Avatar Mystery Dungeon: Water
by Warrior Cat Cody
Summary: An autistic Pikachu and his Totodile friend are called on an all new mission: to help Avatar Aang and his two friends save the world. But will they succeed, or will the Fire Nation stop them? And will they face the wrath of the Fire Nation's Groudon along with the Fire Nation? Rated T for blood, violence, and humor. Hints for Pikatara.
1. The Ultimate Mission

**AvatarCat11: Right now, I've decided on something. I've decided to make yet another remake. This time, it'll be Avatar Mystery Dungeon Book 1. Like Avatar Cat, I'm going to put three chapters into one, and I'll still add some stuff in between.**

**I got two things to say for right now. The first thing is that it'll take a while to update some of my stories. And the second is that I'm working on several stories like Nightfang Potter And The Prisoner Of Alcatraz and my Avatar Cat stories.**

**But that's enough of that for now. Let's go on with the disclaimer and summary of the series.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last AirBender, Pokémon, or anything else in this entire series or chapter.**

**Preview: Cody the Pikachu and Totodile are called on a great mission even greater than getting the Time Gears: helping the Avatar save the world. But what dangers and ventures will they have along the way?**

**Summary: Cody and Totodile wake up one day and are called over to a mission. What mission are they called for? And will they accept it?**

**Publishing Date: December 25, 2011**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_The Ultimate Mission_

"Cody. Hey, Cody! Wake up!"

"Who…? Who's there?" Cody the Pikachu muttered, not opening his eyes yet. He swiped his tongue over his lips; he was quite catlike several days after he was turned into a Pikachu. "Wait. Totodile?"

His deputy replied, "Yeah, you know it's me, buddy! Now wake up! I got something important to tell you!"

The Rescue Team Avatar leader got up and saw the blue form of his best friend, Totodile.

It had been a few days after Christmas and New Year's Day (plus one year when he became a Pokémon). He wanted to fix that in his memory forever, with all the Pokémon having fun, sharing with one another, and playing games. Not to mention all the free food.

Rescue Team Avatar had been through a lot together, like being banished from the Pokémon Square by Gengar to asking Rayquaza to destroy the meteorite. And he didn't forget helping Treasure Town saving the world from Primal Dialga. Cody and Totodile were like brothers now, not unlike a certain human who taunted him, made fun of him, pestered him, and bossed him around.

"Cody, the Whiscash Elder and Alakazam need to see you beside the pond. They got a special mission for you!"

Totodile sounded excited, as if he wanted a video game for his birthday, and his favorite video game was Grand Theft Auto 4. He already beat it, but he said it sounded fun continuing on with the story mode. "That's _all_ story mode," Cody had retorted, resulting in a kindly insulting match.

**(AvatarCat11: It's** **like on Sly Cooper 3**).

"A special mission? Wow, we better get there! Let's get some breakfast first! What do you want?" Cody asked. Normally, they would head over to the Snorlax Cafe to have breakfast, but now they had to hurry to get the mission.

Totodile jumped up and down like a little kid, cheering, "I want some Cocoa Puffs! 'Cause you know. It has vitamins and stuff. Gotta keep up your strength," he added sheepishly.

Cody let out a happy sound like a cat purring and said, "Sure! We'll stop by the Kecleon Market to get some. I could use some Honey Nut Cheerios."

He got up, stretched, and pulled out his wallet from a nearby shelf. He had a lot of money in there after the awesome rescue of a lost clan of Shaymin. They were really rare in the area. One had even mentioned Pokémon from Treasure Town being around the area.

"Let's see," he wondered, counting the money. "I have 1500 Poké. And Cocoa Puffs costs 200 Poké; in fact, all cereal here costs 200 Poké. Now let's go!"

Then, the two friends nodded together and marched on to the Pokémon Square, singing "I Like To Move It, Move It" along the way there.

**...**

The Kecleon brothers weren't there, so Cody and Totodile paid for their cereal and ate it in the Market. For the sign read, "To eat in the store, just put your money on the counter if we're there or not". They even bought Styrofoam bowls and plastic forks to eat the cereal with.

After breakfast, the two Pokémon finally came to the Whiscash Pond, with Whiscash Elder and Alakazam waiting for them. But they weren't the only ones: all the Pokémon at the Square were there, including Charizard and Tyranitar (Alakazam's faithful helpers), Shiftry (the Team Shifty leader), Blastoise, Octillery, and Golem (leaders of Teams Hydro, Constrictor, and Rumblerock), Lombre, Bellsprout, Kangaskhan, Persian, Granbull, Wigglytuff, Gulpin, the two Magnemite, Digglet and Dugtrio, and Makuhita.

"Hey, Cody! The Kecleon brothers were here all the time!" Totodile said to Cody. To them, he called, "Hey, guys! We paid for our cereal!"

"My, are you great customers!" Greeny, the green Kecleon, exclaimed.

"You're welcome to pay when we're not there any time!" Reddy, the purple Kecleon, added.

Cody and Totodile smiled at each other with great pride. After saving the world two times from danger, they were treated like heroes. But despite that, they were modest about the work they had always done for months. If they had help from someone else who needed help, they would give that someone the credit they deserve instead of claiming all the credit.

All the Pokémon were still talking until Alakazam called, "Silence, everyone! Whiscash wishes to speak! Hear his words and have faith!"

**(AvatarCat11: That's a line from my favorite song ever He Lives In You.)**

Everyone quieted down as Whiscash flopped onto land. Despite being a Water-Type Pokémon, he was also part Ground, so he was able to get onto land. Anyways, Whiscash inched toward the young Pikachu, his eyes burning with powerful wisdom. "Yes, Cody. I have called you and your friend Totodile here for a special mission. Have you ever heard of the Avatar?"

"No." Cody said. Out of all the memories of being a human, he couldn't remember the "Avatar".

Totodile, however, looked awed at something else. "Wait. I was also called here?"

"Yes," Whiscash told him.

To Cody, he explained, "The Avatar is a spiritual embodiment who masters four elements to maintain balance between the four nations. Rumor has it that the Pokémon Square where we live is near the Southern Air Temple, where the current Avatar lived. He is quite young and needs some help with how to survive in the hostile world of humans. Cody and Totodile, your mission is to help the Avatar and his friends journey on to help the Avatar master the four elements and to defeat the Fire Lord."

"The Fire Lord?" Granbull sniffled, suffering from an allergy reaction to mosquitoes. "Who's that?"

The other Pokémon murmured the same thing.

Alakazam spoke up this time: "The Fire Lord is like the king of one of the four Nations of the Avatar universe, the Fire Nation. He has descendants to follow in his footsteps, like the kings of Bible Times. But three Fire Lords in history have turned corrupt and twisted, and our Square had suffered from two deadly attacks. In fact, the Air Nomads are all gone because of the First Fire Lord who was corrupted."

The Pokémon gasped with horror, and so did Cody and Totodile. How could a human nation be so cruel in to wipe out an entire Nation? To him, it felt like he was learning about the Holocaust once again, but this was now dealing with a nation, not a race. In fact, he heard that the human nations were now involved in a war.

_So the Fire Lord wants to rule with an iron fist! _Cody thought bitterly. He recalled seeing Gengar in charge of Pokémon Square, ruthlessly calling searches to capture him and Totodile. But this Fire Lord Alakazam was talking about...

"Yes," Whiscash replied. "That is why the Avatar must defeat him before summer ends."

"Really?" Totodile gasped. "Just this summer?"

"Of course," Alakazam said. "We were going to ask you to ask him to join us, but we decided not to go with that. If he doesn't join, it will be his choice, but you will have saved the world. Cody and Totodile, you will find allies along your way: some old, some new. They can help you and the Avatar."

He glanced at the sky and said, "Your departure is tomorrow before dawn. But! If you'd like, you can start packing soon. But we know you like to take your time. So...take your time."

Cody dipped his head toward the powerful A.C.T. leader and meowed, "Thank you Alakazam. We'll pack soon."

Then, gesturing his deputy with his tail, Cody and Totodile left the crowd cheering with delight. Their feet were still wobbly and their brains were still spinning with excitement over this new mission. But what Alakazam and Whiscash said were true: this Avatar needed their help.

**...**

As Cody and Totodile were packing up for the day, Totodile said to Cody, "Hey, Cody. We're going away, huh? Cody and Totodile on the road again!"

"Yep," the young male Pikachu replied, giving his Big Jaw friend a big high-five. The journey would be a little easier with a funny friend accompanying him. He took one look at the Warriors book called Fading Echoes and asked Totodile, "Do the Avatar and his friends like reading?"

"Who knows? Maybe they might," Totodile replied. "Now are you finished packing?" he added, zipping his backpack shut.

"Nearly there," the Electric-type rodent said, zipping his bag shut also. With a huff of approval, he added, "There. NOW I'm done."

"Good for you, buddy." At that, Totodile patted him on the shoulder. "Now how about we go to the arcade?"

With a nod, the two friends went off to the arcade place near the Pelliper Post Office to play some games. When they arrived, Cody began playing SimAnimals Africa while Totodile began playing Grand Theft Auto IV. He was playing the complete collection of Grand Theft Auto IV. But what Cody liked playing was Battle Revolution, but he didn't want to play that right now.

While Cody played around with the animals on SimAnimals, he told Totodile, "I wonder if the Avatar and his friends could understand their culture?"

Totodile nodded like before and replied, "They might, but you never know. I've heard that people in the Avatar world have some Pokémon with them, not like the Pokémon Trainers who keep their Pokémon in their PokéBalls like on the games." His character was riding in a helicopter without the tail on it.

"How'd you do that? I usually don't do it."

"Oh, a stupid fire truck tore it off," Totodile said while his character's helicopter crashed into a building. "Great God Almighty, that doesn't look good." The helicopter had exploded and had fallen to the ground, causing the character to die.

Turning towards Cody, he asked him, "By the way, I heard that on your SimAnimals game, you can grow steak trees. Is that true?"

Cody nodded and planted one on his game. Then he asked, "Hey, Totodile, should we do a rescue mission or an outlaw mission?"

The outlaw missions, which were jobs where rescuers arrest outlaws, had been added before the Christmas break. In the meantime, rescue missions were missions that involve rescuing Pokémon in times of danger. And other missions included battles, treasure hunting, or exploring dungeons. The Pelliper of the Pelliper Post Office have added the outlaw missions and the other mentioned missions in honor of Team HeartGold.

**(Author's Note: Yes, I substituted Team Diamond for Team HeartGold. It was originally Team Platinum.)**.

Totodile shook his head. "Nah. The extra energy will make us tired; we wouldn't keep up with the Avatar. Tell you what, though," he added. "Let's go to the Makuhita Dojo for some training. What do you say?"

"Sure," Cody said, sensibly turning off the Wii while Totodile turned off the PlayStation3. The two friends left the arcade and headed over to the Dojo that lies in the south part of the Square.

The dojo looked bigger than usual because there were other Pokémon from Treasure Town that were training as well. And standing in front of the Dojo was the sensei, Makuhita. He seemed to be getting a little old and Cody figured that the Fighting-type Pokémon would have to find a new pupil to take his place as the sensei.

When Makuhita saw them approach, he called in his Chinese accent, "A thousand great greetings to you, Cody the Pikachu and Totodile. Do you want to come and train at the Dojo?"

Cody let out a little sigh. Makuhita always called him Cody the Pikachu because of his human origin, but he didn't mind it too much. He and Totodile gave the elderly Pokémon a respectful nod.

"Very well," Makuhita said, stepping aside. "But first, answer this question: are you two going on the journey to find the Avatar?"

"Yes," Totodile told him. "Why?"

Makuhita blocked their way again and added, "A thousand pardons to you, Totodile and Cody the Pikachu, but Alakazam told me to tell you not to come for training at the Dojo."

"WHAT?" Totodile snapped. Cody gave him a nudge on the shoulder which meant _"Be polite."_ Totodile got the message and went on politely, "Why would he do that?"

"He wants you and your friend to stay fresh for your journey." Makuhita then gave them a bow and added, "Good day to you two."

**...**

Despite what Alakazam had told Makuhita to tell Team Avatar about staying fresh, Cody and Totodile trained at the Rescue Team base. In fact, they didn't feel tired at all. But they had to admit that too much work would exhaust them, and when they went to relax in the hot spring behind the waterfall at the Makuhita Dojo, they felt much better.

Suddenly, at sundown, Alakazam called out, "Everyone of Pokémon Square, it is time for the Feast to begin!" Both Cody and Totodile eagerly headed out to the middle of the Square.

On weekends or special occasions, a Feast would be held in the middle of the Square and there would be tables running from the tip of the entrance of Whiscash's Pond to the tip of the entrance to the Kangaskhan Storage and the Gulpin Link Shop. In the middle of the tables, there would be all sorts of food that anyone would like to eat.

"It's like one of those feasts on Harry Potter," Totodile had joked when Cody had his first Feast with the Pokémon of Pokémon Square.

Since it was a special occasion, the Feast came into session. Many Pokémon were waiting for one Pokémon to say a prayer to God, for the Pokémon in Pokémon Square are Christians. It was rumored that the founder of Pokémon Square, who was the legendary Rescue Team leader Lucario, had asked many to convert to Christianity. Ever since that, Pokémon Square had become a utopia and a paradise for Pokémon who want to start a new life and Cody was one of them. Everyone's hearts here were as pure as clean water.

Alakazam held up a hand that contained one of his psychic spoons and announced, "Everyone, we gather at a new Feast and we shall begin a prayer to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I shall begin it."

He cleared his throat, lifted his hands to the heavens, and prayed:

"_Our Lord Jesus in Heaven_

_Our two friends are on a journey tomorrow and they need your guidance._

_Help them befriend the Avatar and treat him and his friends like siblings._

_And may this Feast honor our friends and the Avatar on a powerful quest._

_We thank you. In your name we pray..."_

"Amen," all of the Pokémon finished for the A.C.T. leader.

As soon as that was done, they began to feast.

While Cody was eating a slice of cheese pizza (his favorite food), he heard Octillery, the leader of Team Constrictor, tell Granbull in her French accent. He leaned forward, his ears quivering to hear what she had to say. Whatever she was saying seemed to attract the attention of the other Pokémon.

"Darling, I've heard of an interesting island called Kyoshi Island," Octillery was saying. "Rumor has it that their females there are powerful fighters, and so are their Pokémon."

"Yeah, how crazy is that? I'd flee if I saw them," Granbull told her, his mouth full of roast beef. Granbull does seem braver than he was ever since he was a Snubbull, but that didn't mean he let go of all of his fear.

"Granbull, watch where you spray your food," Greeny, one of the Kecleon brothers, complained as pieces of chewed-up beef sprayed at his direction and almost into his chicken soup.

Granbull muttered an apology and began to eat slowly and swallow.

Ignoring the little scene, Cody heard Gengar speak to his teammates from Team Meanies. The Pokémon of Pokémon Square had distrusted Gengar and had exiled him ever since he blamed the young Pikachu for being the cursed human of the Ninetales Legend. But it turned out that the Team Meanies leader was the cursed one. But they let him back into the town once he and his teammates redeemed themselves.

Gengar was saying with his mouthful of meatballs, "I've heard there's some crazy geezer who's the king of a city called Omashu. I wonder if it's true. He seems like our kind of role model."

His friends, Medicham and Ekans, gave him a shrug before going back to eating their own food. Ekans was swallowing his hot dogs whole with no problem of choking. Medicham was niftily nibbling on some rice she had reached from the other side of the table.

Cody could hear Ekans tell Medicham, "I went back to the Wish Cave since I got stronger, and I got my wish to swallow big things whole. What about your wish to meditate for a year?"

"I gave up on that; it sounded too boring," Medicham replied as she stretched her arms. "My wish now is to do better yoga."

"Tell you what, Medicham," Gengar told her. "Next time we go into that Wish Cave, I'll let Jirachi grant it for ya."

Medicham gave him a high-five and she went back to eating.

Cody turned back to Totodile and whispered, "Do you think the Avatar and his friends have ever met Pokémon?"

"Probably," Totodile told him sagely, shrugging. "Anyways, after training, I did some research of the areas around Pokémon Island. The Southern Air Temple is where the Avatar was born. We're twenty minutes away from it and he could be heading there. But..." he went on before Cody could speak, "...he might probably stop on some small island."

The Pokémon feasted on until the moon was beginning to rise into the sky, and Cody looked up to see the stars littering the night sky. He felt full and happy, as if the journey was just a week away instead of the day after this. But he wasn't bothered by that at all.

Cody heard Alakazam call to him and Totodile for all to hear, "You two need to go back to your beds and get some rest. Your journey begins tomorrow and I shall remind you this: you cannot take any Team members with you, but you can take Poke and some supplies with you. You will find some Poke along the way and you can store it or some items into a Kangaskhan rock if you wish. And you will also recruit just a few Pokémon along the way, though they might not stay for long. Now have a good night."

All the other Pokémon repeated "Good night" to Team Avatar before they left the Feast.

The two friends stopped at the front of Cody's Pikachu head-shaped house, which was also the Rescue Team base. Normally, Cody would sleep in this place, but he would also spend some nights in the Energetic Forest with the other residents there. Totodile's house was at the Rub-A-Dub River, where his house faced the small waterfall near the mill.

Totodile told Cody, "Time to get back to the Rub-A-Dub River and get some shut-eye. 'Night, Cody." He gave a yawn and headed toward the opposite way of the Square to the Friend Areas.

"'Night, Totodile."

**...**

_Cody found himself on top of a huge mountain that wasn't anywhere near Pokémon Square. He saw many shrouds of mist circling the mountain and it whisked lazily by his ears and whiskers, making them twitch. The male Pikachu swore he saw a dragon or two flying about here and there, one of them having a strange blue glow._

_"Hello, Cody," an old male voice from behind him said._

_Immediately, Cody whirled around on the spot with his fur bristling, ready to fend off the new stranger. But he stopped when he saw that it was an old male human with red royal clothing, a long white beard, and golden eyes. Cody felt sorry for hissing at the human because, in his eyes, elders were to be respected, even though much elders were be cranky. But this old man didn't look cranky; instead, he looked amused._

_"Who are you?" Cody asked him._

_"I? I am the Avatar before the current Avatar you are to journey with soon. I am Avatar Roku, a FireBending Avatar, and I can Bend all four elements," the old man explained._

_"FireBending? What's that?" The Pikachu got confused at that. Just like when Whiscash asked him if he knew the Avatar, Cody didn't know what Bending is._

_Roku chuckled and reassured him, "All will be revealed in no time." Then he disappeared into thin air with the mist surrounding them both._

_"No! Wait, please! I want to know more!"_

_Cody leaped for where Roku was standing, but he wasn't there anymore; in his place was a large spirit-like dragon bearing down on him._

"Cody? Wake up! Are you having a nightmare?" Totodile's voice rang out from nowhere.

Cody woke up and saw that Totodile and Gardevoir, a pretty female Psychic-type Pokémon and a member of Team Avatar, were above him. Cody felt wet on his face and realized that Totodile was holding a bucket in his hands. He must have been the one who poured the water on him to wake him up.

"Should I get the herbs to heal his shock?" Gardevoir asked the Team Avatar deputy. She was really skilled with herbs and she could even fight well despite her love for herbs.

Cody sat up swiftly, shook the water from his fur, and told them, "Guys, it's okay. I'm awake now. Now what's going on?"

Totodile told him, "We're fixing to leave; it's already thirty minutes before dawn, and I've left Absol and Gardevoir in charge until we get back before summer's end. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, sure. Let me get my bag, first," Cody said as he picked up his and Totodile's bags before the three Pokémon headed out of the house.

The stars were still glistening in the sky as they set off to the Pelliper Post Office, where all the Pokémon were gathering. All the Pokémon cheered for him and Totodile as they approached the cliff where two Pelliper were sitting at the edge of the cliff. Both Alakazam and Whiscash were already at the front of the crowd.

Alakazam announced, "We say farewell for now to Rescue Team Avatar, for they are leaving on a journey with the Avatar; they will be gone until the end of August. Absol and Gardevoir are left in charge of the Team's activities while you are gone." He glanced toward the four mentioned Pokémon, who gave a bow before he continued, "Cody and Totodile, we wish you good luck and good-bye for now."

He gave them a bow before the Team Avatar leader and deputy bowed back.

"Alakazam and his Team will meet up with you soon, though they are only a small part of your mission," Whiscash joined in. "I say to you good-bye for now and good luck."

Confused at that but determined not to show it, Cody and Totodile bowed to the Whiscash Elder.

"Come on, you two!" one of the Pelliper, the one who delivered their mail, called to them. "Hop in our beaks and let's get the show on the road!"

So the two friends hopped into the beaks of the two Pelliper and, before they lifted off, all the Pokémon were calling their farewells. "Good-bye!" "Good luck with your mission!" and "Come back after your job!" rang out to them.

Cody felt his heart tear in two when he and Totodile called their good-byes back to them. Cody had been gone for around three months or so when he helped out Treecko and Chimchar of Team HeartGold, but this was different. They would be gone for eight or nine months and wandering with humans to defeat the Fire Lord.

_But it'll all be worth it_, he decided.

Giving the command "Let's go, Team!" he and Totodile rode in the beaks of the two Pelliper as the lifted off and flew off toward the soon-rising sun.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat11: There! I hope the first part of the remake of Avatar Mystery Dungeon goes well! And I might be able to repost episodes of Monster Rancher Mystery Dungeon really soon.**

**Yeah, I changed my mind about updating stories until after Christmas. It's just that, after the presents are opened and dinner's eaten, there's not much to do. So I'm publishing the remake to pass the time.**

**Anyways, anyone who reviews this story will receive virtual Christmas cookies with either reindeer, snowmen, or Christmas trees on them. Flames will be used to roast corndogs over an open fire, and constructive criticism is allowed, as long as it's not harsh. And here's the preview for the next episode called A New Mission.**

**Preview: Cody and Totodile's mission is now starting as they land near the Southern Air Temple. While Totodile is off doing something, Cody meets a human for the first time since he was turned into a Pikachu.**

**See ya next time! And Merry Christmas!**


	2. The Quest Begins

**AvatarCat11: Here it is, people! The moment you've been waiting for from the start of Avatar Mystery Dungeon remake! This is the chapter I'll just say in the summary.**

**Summary: When Cody and Totodile land on an island, the two friends set up a makeshift camp. But when Totodile searches for food, Cody meets one of the Avatar's friends. And this character is who I like pretty much the best on the entire series. Just to remind you, guys.**

**I said the disclaimer last time. So fanfic meister, would YOU like to say it this time?**

**fanfic meister: Okay. I bet this'll be good like the original.**

**Disclaimer: Never could AvatarCat11 own Pokémon, Avatar: The Last AirBender, or anything else in this chapter.**

**Updating Date: December 25, 2011**

**AvatarCat11 and fanfic meister: Enjoy!**

**...**

_The Quest Begins_

As the sun slowly began to rise a little over the sea, Cody looked around the area, feeling bored already. For all he could see flying in the air were flocks of Wingull and Pelliper, gliding along with the air current. Several Wailord and their baby Wailmer breached above the surface, spouts of water blowing out of their blowholes.

Suddenly, up ahead of them, Cody saw a small island with a mountain in the center. It looked like a good place to set up camp for the time being. He looked around and told the Pelliper, "You can drop us off here. It's fine."

The Pelliper couldn't say anything with his beak full of live Pikachu, but Cody knew the Pelliper nodded his head and the Water Bird Pokémon dove toward the small island. They were going so fast that they were nearly as fast as an Aerodactyl.

As they landed on the beach there, Totodile thanked the two Pelliper, "Thanks for the ride, guys. We'll be back before the end of summer."

"No problem," the first Pelliper said.

"Here's a cell phone for you and Cody if you want to contact us," the second one added, opening his beak and letting a small blue cell phone drop out and onto the sand. "Just be sure to change those batteries often." Then the two Pelliper told them their farewells before flying away and out of sight.

Totodile looked around the inward direction of the island, and he turned to see the sunray hit the beach. Then he turned around on the spot and finally said, "The only problem I see is how we'll find a place to charge it."

Cody reassured him, "Look on the bright side. I'm an Electric type, so that won't be a problem."

"Hehe...yeah, I forgot there," Totodile chuckled, rubbing his head with his hand. He took another look at the island and went on, "You wanna make camp somewhere. I know it's dawn already, but I don't feel tired anymore."

"Yeah, maybe we can settle somewhere in the woods before we head onwards," Cody replied. "As soon as we set up camp, how about we find some breakfast?"

"Well..." Totodile said, looking around at the backpack on his shoulders, "...we got snacks and Poke in our backpacks, but yeah, we can go for some wild breakfast. MAN, I'm in the mood for some fire-grilled salmon on a fire."

Cody knew that Totodile liked to act like a survivor in the Wild as if he was like being one of those people from the nature shows. But whenever he was in Pokémon Square, he would just act like he was owned by a human. He would be well-fed and waiting for the next day or the next adventure.

He gave a nod toward his Water-type partner and said, "Okay. But FIRST we set up camp in those woods."

Totodile chuckled with pure awkwardness as he told him, "Oh, I forgot. Let's go set up camp!"

**...**

The two Pokémon settled in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. All of the forest was deciduous forest trees with boulders and streams scattered around. The camp, meanwhile, was a medium-sized area and it was the same width of a small house.

In the middle of the camp was a large stone with a tree hanging overhead the two Pokémon when they came to inspect it. It seemed to be a good boulder.

"I like that boulder," Totodile told Cody after they set up the two tents. "That is a nice boulder."

"I'm glad you like it," Cody replied. "And I like that tree. That's a nice tree."

Totodile laughed and retorted jokingly, "Okay, THAT was funny. But enough with the Shrek talk. I'll find some food for us to eat. You guard the camp 'till I get back." With a wave to his partner, the Big Jaw Pokémon raced off into the bushes as fast as his short hind legs could carry him.

Cody gave a wave back to him before Totodile vanished into the bushes. Then, summoning his strength, he leaped onto the boulder and tried to scramble onto the top while flailing his hind legs around, struggling to get up. Finally, he heaved himself onto the stone and he surveyed the camp.

"Yep, our journey has begun," the young male Pikachu told himself aloud. "Now that we set up camp, we'll wait until the Avatar and his friends arrive. That way, we can join him to help him defeat the Fire Lord. This is gonna be the best mission we'll ever have!"

"Excuse me..." a soft female voice murmured behind him.

The voice made Cody jump from the stone with fright and he turned to see who startled him, his fur bristling and his teeth bared and ready to attack. But as soon as he saw who it was, he stopped baring his teeth and his mouth hung open wide in shock when he saw the stranger.

Standing before him was a human teenage girl who looked as if she were fourteen years old. In his eyes, she was a pretty girl with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair tied into two hairstyles: a ponytail and loop-like braids in the front. She also had Native-American-like tanned skin and a heavy blue fur coat draped over her body.

Cody felt himself feel hot beneath his fur when he saw her. He knew he had a big liking toward Native American women, mainly since he had a crush on one when he was a human. What was even more amazing was: she was talking to him.

"Hey, I was talking to myself here," Cody told her, knowing a human couldn't understand him anymore.

The girl dropped her gaze and replied, "Sorry. I was just wondering who was talking, that's all."

Cody nodded and said, "Hey, no problem. That's just me being-"

But he stopped right there. When he told her he was talking to himself, she apologized to him as if she actually understood him! So he said in an amazed tone, "Wait, you can talk? What I meant was: you can hear what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I can hear you," the girl said, looking the Pikachu right in the eyes. Her stunning blue gaze made Cody start to keel over, thinking, _Great God Almighty, just look at her good looks!_

The human girl noticed him staring at her and he seemed zoned out, so she snapped her fingers in his face and asked him, "Are you okay?"

Cody instantly got up and shook himself as he replied, "Yeah. Sorry. It's just...I couldn't believe a human spoke to me and we understood what we said. And I'm talking to..." He shuffled his hind paws on the ground nervously, "...to a pretty girl."

The teenage girl smiled, with a hint of rosy pink on her cheeks, and giggled a little at Cody's switch of mood (_Her laugh is as pretty as her and her voice,_ he teased to himself.) and she said, "Thanks. Sorry I haven't introduced myself. My name's Katara."

"Really? That's a really name," Cody told her, his cheeks sparking white and holding out a fore paw. "And I'm Cody the Pikachu, but you can just call me Cody. And I come from the Pokémon Square."

**(Author's Note: I don't know how a Pikachu blushes, so this is the best I can come up with.)**

"I come from the Southern Water Tribe. And it's nice to meet you, Cody," Katara replied, still smiling and shaking his paw. Then she added, "Oh, I've heard about a Pikachu before. I just heard about it from my new friend Aang."

That rattled Cody's brain a little. _Who is this Aang person? _he wondered.

Katara must have seen the confusion on his face because she said, "He's a new friend my brother Sokka and I met a few days ago. He's also the Avatar."

_The Avatar?_ She's _a friend of the Avatar?_ Cody yelped in his mind. If so, that meant that he just met one of his friends. _Totodile and I are getting near our goal! I gotta find him and tell him the good news!_

So he told Katara, "Can you excuse me for a moment? I have this best friend of mine. His name's Totodile, he's a cheerful dude, and he's the best friend a Pokémon can ask for. I'd like for you to meet him, Katara. Can you stay in the camp for a bit?"

Katara nodded while Cody started to head out of the entrance of the camp and she added, "Plus, I've heard from Aang about what you might be: are you and Totodile some of those Pokémon?"

"Uh, yeah. We're both Pokémon. We're both Rescue Team Avatar," Cody answered over his shoulder, itching to find Totodile.

"Aang told my brother and me about all sorts of those creatures living in our world," she explained. "Some are numerous and weak, while others are unique and very powerful, right?"

"Yeah, that's true." Cody saw that there were indeed Pokémon when he noticed a flock of Pidgey fluttering in the tree Katara was sitting under. It seemed to him that other Pokémon were passing by earlier. Then he asked her, "Do you have any Pokémon from your home?"

Katara shook her head. "Not much. We have a few, but other than that, none at all."

Cody gave her a sympathetic look; it wasn't fair she could find a new Pokémon every single day. He and Totodile got to see new Pokémon, not to mention new faces every day, thanks to being in a rescue team. But as for Katara, he felt bad for her; it wasn't fair she and her brother had to stay at home all the time.

So he made a promise to himself at that moment. He promised he would help her out whenever he could.

"Okay, I'll be back really soon. It'll be easy," he called over his shoulder. Giving her one smile, he ran off into the forest.

**...**

"This is a bigger forest than I thought," the Pikachu told himself as he flinched at a cracking twig.

He had been running through the forest for quite a few minutes and there was no sign of his blue deputy. He found a small apple, ate quickly, and found a small bag of Poké under a big oak tree, but there was no sign of Totodile. Until...

"Cody! What're you doing out of camp? Aren't you supposed to guard it?"

Totodile had come back with a few fish tied to a rope and his yellow eyes shiny with frustration. Cody realized that part of his frustration was because of working hard to catch all six fish.

"Totodile, sorry I ran out of camp," he apologized while panting. "But I got some good news!"

Totodile's eyes changed from a mood of rage to one of happiness. He threw down the fish and replied, "Well, that changes things! And I'm sorry I snapped at you too. So what's the news?"

Cody panted from having run to him as he explained, "One of the Avatar's friends have come into our camp!"

"What? That's awesome!" Totodile cheered while doing his _I Like To Move It Move It_ dance and Cody couldn't help but laugh. Whenever Totodile got really excited, he did that very dance. He stopped dancing to ask his leader, "What's their name?"

"Her name's Katara, she's a pretty girl, and she says she knows the Avatar's name: Aang," Cody went on, not bothering to empty his voice of glee. "I told her I'd introduce you to her. Would you like to meet her?" he added, holding out an apple and saying in a high voice. "Pretty please with apples, Oreos, and chocolate chips on top?"

Totodile responded happily with a pretend groan, "Aw, come on, Cody. You know those never work on me! Of course I'll come-"

"Help!" That was Katara's voice echoing to them and it was full of fear, followed by a bear's roaring.

"Katara, are you okay?" Cody called toward the voice, feeling fear for his new friend flood through him. Another scream, this time with pain, echoed back to him; this made Cody growl with rage at the creature harming her.

He growled to Totodile, "Katara's in trouble and we can't fail in this mission! Are you with me, Totodile?"

Totodile nodded to him with a determined aura and the two friends headed back to camp. Whatever was attacking Cody's new friend was really going to pay for it, for he knew the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

**...**

When Cody and Totodile got back to camp, they saw that the tents were untouched, but they saw Katara cowering by the side of the stone with a bleeding leg and towering above her, its small brown eyes filled with fury, was a giant grizzly bear. The bear let out another loud roar before lunging at her and held her down with one forepaw, preparing to slay her with a claw swipe.

Katara saw the two Pokémon coming, for as the bear rose itself high to smash its paw onto her, she backed away with great difficulty (for the bear was trying to crush her with its paw) and shouted, "Cody! Help me!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Cody spat at the bear as he rushed forward at the large beast; his shout made it step away from Katara. But the bear rose to its hind legs and let out a challenging roar.

Cody backed away a little, noticed the branches in the oak tree, and leaped into the branches. As he launched himself out of the tree and at his opponent, he sped this up with a Quick Attack and landed on the bear's head. Then he began clawing and biting at its ears and face with his sharp teeth.

"Yeah, pick on someone your own size and species!" Totodile added, giving the bear a Shadow Claw on its belly before it could kick him away.

Totodile backed away a little and shot forward, delivering a Crunch attack to the bear's hind leg, making the large brown carnivore roar with fury. Cody was still grabbing onto the bear's ear with his teeth and he hung on tight as the giant animal slammed its head to the ground as it tried to dislodge him, but Cody still hung on for his life.

Turning to Totodile, Cody called out, "Go find help and quick! I'll fend the bear off!"

"Are you sure, buddy?" Totodile's voice was thick with worry.

"Just go! I'll be okay! Trust me!" Cody called.

Totodile looked torn between helping his friend fight the bear and running off for help. But when the bear shook Cody off and pushed him down to the ground, the Big Jaw Pokémon's face had hardened into resolve, a goal to help his best friend. So he nodded to Cody and jogged away towards the center of the island.

**(AvatarCat11: The following fight is like the Disney movie White Fang, which is also a Jack London book that I do not own.)**

The bear glared after Totodile before Cody could see Katara doing something: she appeared to be summoning water from the nearby pond. When that was done, she froze it with her breath and threw it at the bear. It struck it on the shoulders, only to make it angrier and roaring loudly. The bear turned to glare at her, but Cody got up in time and leaped in between them, glaring defiantly up at the beast.

Letting out a roar, the bear began sauntering to one side to get at its target. Not wanting to let it near Katara, Cody moved over to where the bear was going to get through. And when the bear went to the other side, Cody moved over to that side to block the way again. So no matter how the large animal tried to get through, the young Pikachu wouldn't let it through.

Next, the bear began lashing out at him with its long sharp claws. Cody responded by snapping at the paw threatening to strike him. He quickly turned around to see Katara gaping at him with awe towards him and horror towards the bear. Then the Rescue Team Avatar leader got back to biting at the bear's lashing paw.

Finally, the bear rose to its hind legs, towering over Cody and Katara, and let out another loud roar. Cody replied with hissing loudly like a cat, his teeth bared into a snarl and his fur bristling with rage. Katara watched on with wide eyes as the male Pikachu stood in front of her, baring his teeth up at the bear. He and the bear looked each other in the eyes, but neither one was backing down.

Seeming to admit defeat, the bear let out another roar before it walked away. Before it left, it gave Cody and Katara an angry glare from its small brown eyes.

After the bear disappeared deeper into the woods, Cody walked over to Katara, asking her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I got a slash on my leg," Katara replied, groaning in pain as she rested her bleeding leg on the soil. It was completely covered with blood where the bear's mighty claws struck her and her face was etched with horror and shock.

Cody looked at her leg and said, "Hold on for a moment. I'm gonna get the first-aid kit."

While Katara rested against the rock and sighed, Cody took out a first-aid-kit from his backpack and started to wipe the blood away with a cloth. He began washing the leg with water and draped it in a white bandage. Finally, he took out some white wrapping bandages and wrapped them around her leg.

"There. That feels better?" he asked her gently.

Katara looked up at him and smiled weakly, her blue eyes shifting from her leg to him. They were full of gratitude. _Wow. She IS pretty,_ Cody purred softly to himself.

Before she could answer, a young male voice, probably another teenager, called out, "Katara, where are you?"

"That's my brother!" the human girl told Cody, who felt confused.

She clumsily rose to her feet before coming to meet up with a young male teenager. This person had short dark brown hair that was shaped like a small ponytail at the back of his head, the same bright blue eyes as his sister, and the same heavy blue fur coat. He did seem to be her brother, perhaps older brother. Beside him, Totodile was panting for breath, giving his friend a weary smile.

And behind this person was a younger boy at twelve years. He had orange and yellow clothes, an auburn staff in one hand, and stormy dark gray eyes. The strangest thing about him was that he was bald, but a closer look told Cody he had a shaved head. But what was even stranger than the shaved head was a sky-blue arrow tattoo on his forehead; he even had some on his hands.

_Is this the Avatar? _Cody thought to himself. _The one Alakazam and Whiscash told us about?_

The Water Tribe teen was demanding, "Katara, where have you been? You had me worried sick!" Noticing her leg, he shouted, not angrily but panicky, "What happened to your leg? And what the heck is that?" he added, pointing his boomerang at Cody.

"I tried tellin' him," Totodile mouthed to his friend while Cody took a step back with his back arched like a cat.

But Katara stepped in between her brother and Cody, protesting, "Sokka, he saved me from a bear!"

"A bear?" Sokka asked her. "At least that bear won't be coming back soon. But what did you do to my sister?" he demanded to Cody harshly and pointing to his sister's bandaged leg.

Cody cringed before him, not wanting to be yelled at. He almost backed away when Totodile stomped up to Sokka, retorting, "For your information, bub, she was slashed by a bear, but he saved her and bandaged her up," he snapped, poking at his face with a stick. "He did nothing to her. Got a problem with him helping her?"

But before things got out of hand, the younger boy said, "Please stop with the fighting, you two." He turned to Cody and Totodile, asking them, "Were you two looking for me?"

_Whoa!_ Cody gasped with his mouth wide open. _He IS the Avatar! So this is that "Aang" person Katara told me about!_ Out loud, he said, "Yeah, we've been looking for you. We were, but your friend was in danger so I helped her out of it."

"My name's Totodile and this is my best friend Cody," Totodile continued for his friend. "We're Rescue Team Avatar and we've been searching for you because of a mission."

Aang looked at the two briefly as if they were an enemy, but he relaxed when they said "Rescue Team". "Okay, then," the young Avatar said, now smiling a reassured but goofy smile. "Sokka, carry Katara to our camp. You two pack up if you want to come with us."

With that, he took out a stick, pressed a button which caused two orange wings to sprout from both sides, and hopped on and he was gliding away. Meanwhile, Sokka had helped Katara get to her feet as she limped alongside her brother back to their camp.

Cody gave Totodile a shrug as if he was saying "Well, we got this far, so let's go with them!"

Totodile gave him a nod before they dissembled the camp and they carried their belongings to the direction where Aang glided off to: the mountain in the center of the island. The two of them ran ahead of Aang as he had glided away towards their camp. Cody had packed enough supplies to take with them for the entire trip and Totodile had helped him along.

Cody kept thinking about what adventure they were going on when they travel with Aang and his team. He imagined the many battles that await them on the horizon and he imagined all the allies that he would have to team up with. There would be many Pokémon to see, sights to behold, and new adventures.

_We finally found the Avatar! Now our mission is getting near every day!_

**...**

When the Pokémon arrived at their camp that consisted of three tents, a campfire, and a large white motionless rock, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were already in the center of the camp. While he tended to his sister's injured leg, Sokka asked the Pokémon, "So what really happened to my sister?"

Totodile explained, "While Cody was searching for me to tell me about his discovery, your sister got attacked by a bear and he saved her. Although I helped a little," he added sheepishly.

Sokka shrugged and told him, "Eh, that'll work."

"I've heard there are Water-type Pokémon. Are you a Water type?" Katara responded to Totodile as she sat up and steadily stood up without any need for help. When he nodded, she asked him, "Well, what kind of attacks can you learn?"

"Moves like this," Totodile said, leaping at a boulder. Rings of water surrounded his tail and he slammed it onto the boulder with great gusto. Immediately, the rock burst into pieces, and Aang and his friends gasped at the power of Totodile's Aqua tail with awe. "And that, my good friends, is a powerful Aqua Tail."

The humans praised Totodile's power while Cody clapped Totodile on the shoulder, saying, "I haven't seen you use it since our last rescue mission. That's very impressive!"

The Pokémon and the humans soon saw it was time for breakfast, and Aang and Sokka went off to find some food. Meanwhile Katara told Cody and Totodile they could wait while she prepared breakfast. Cody was glad to see her leg being better after the bear attack, although he could still see the scars.

While Cody and Totodile were chewing on their granola bars as they watched her cook, Cody felt a little bad for Katara. Since he had been a human, he had wanted to help others when they need something. But to sit here and watch a pretty girl do all the work when left alone, that seemed to be hard to him.

Totodile nodded as if he had listened to his thoughts and told him, "So you wanna help her?"

"Yeah. I know Aang and Sokka would help her anytime, but I want to help them out too," Cody replied. He knew Totodile would support him thick and thin, but how would he respond to him helping a human?

"Hey, I have no problem with that," Totodile explained. "I knew that, when you first became a Pikachu, you have a kind heart and you want to help others. Other Pokémon call you crazy, I call you righteous."

He nudged Cody to Katara, who gave them a confused look when Totodile shoved his best friend to her, and said, "Go get 'em, tiger!" With a wink, he went over to clean the outside of the tents.

Cody shuffled his paws as Katara spoke to him, "Hey, Cody. Can I get you anything?"

The young male Pikachu told her, "No thanks. I'm okay. I just wanted to know if you need any help with making breakfast."

Katara's blue eyes widened as Cody gave his suggestion. He guessed she was at loss of words, but he wanted to help her.

Then she said, "Well, I know Aang and Sokka help out sometimes. But I'm the person who does the most work here. I'm not a slave or anything," she added as Cody gaped at her. "I've worked hard for the family since my mom died." At that, her eyes began to fill with tears as they silently fell to the ground.

The part when she said that her mother died made Cody feel the same way she did. Did that mean she and Sokka were orphans? He leaped onto her shoulder, hugged her head, and told her, "I'm very sorry to hear that. It must be really hard for you." When he said that, out of habit, he began licking her cheek and the area around her eyes to wipe the tears away; he hated to see Katara feel sad.

"Aww, that's _so_ sweet of you to care," Katara said, smiling a sweet smile while rubbing his left cheek with her right hand. "So yes, I would like some help with breakfast."

The young Pikachu guessed her mother was a kind and pretty woman, and it must have passed on to the young WaterBender. She immediately went back to cooking while Cody helped several plates of breakfast soup to the table. As easily as mold spreading on a curtain, Cody picked a bowl up and balanced it on his head like someone crossing a log.

But suddenly, he tripped over a stick and one of the bowls of soup, which wasn't hot but warm, had its contents get over Katara's Water Tribe coat.

Immediately, Cody felt shame go through him and he crouched to the ground. Once, a few days after he became a Pikachu, an Ambipom yelled at him very loudly for eating an apple he was saving for later. The young Pikachu was so upset that Totodile scolded the Ambipom for yelling at him. Cody wasn't a wimp; he just had sensitive feelings.

But he wasn't sure if the humans would be tolerant about his accidents and sensitivity. So he had no choice but to lower his head in shame.

While he crouched down in front of her, Katara asked him, "Um, Cody, why are you doing that?"

"I'll explain," Totodile, who was watching the scene, told her as he came over. "My buddy has sensitive feelings and he'll get really upset if someone rebukes him too sharply. So please, let it slide for once."

To their amazement, Katara nodded. "All right, then. I understand, Totodile. Cody," she told him as he got up," I'm not mad at you; it was an accident." She pointed to her winter coat and said, "About my coat, you don't have to do anything to clean it up. I'll fix it." At that, she took off her Water Tribe coat.

Cody couldn't help but gape and blush-spark when he saw her real body. He thought she would be a little big-boned, but he was wrong. She had a very slender body as if she was made of china and it would make any male human turn their head to stare at her. Of course she had a blue tunic on her, but that was lighter. He was fully aware that Totodile was watching his reaction and he was smirking in a knowing way.

_Am I...am I attracted to Katara? _he thought. _Well, am I? _He didn't notice her Bending the soup off of the coat and she put it back on. Cody felt dissatisfied at not seeing more of her body, but he kept the comment to himself.

"Cody? Are you okay?" Katara asked him, waving her arm in front of him. Totodile snapped his finger stubs in front of him and gave the young WaterBender a look as if he was saying, _I know what's going on. Don't worry about it._

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay." Cody got up and shook himself awake from his thoughts, but he couldn't get her slender body out of his mind. "How about we all help out with breakfast?"

Totodile nodded and said, "Sure! I'll help make some breakfast!" He picked up the remaining plates of soup and began settling them onto the table while Cody began setting the table up. Katara had went back to fixing up some breakfast

All three of them were ready to wait for Aang and Sokka to come back when they came into the camp with scratches on their arms and they were out of breath. Immediately, Katara ran to the both of them, saying, "Oh, Great Spirits! What happened to you two?"

"We got attacked," Sokka explained to his sister as she hugged him tightly. "By three Pokémon: a large purple skunk, a floating ball of gas, and a blue blind bat. They called themselves Team Skull."

Cody realized with horror who Sokka was talking about: Team Skull and its members: Skuntank, Koffing, and Zubat. While Team Meanies redeemed themselves to playful jokers, Team Skull hadn't repented. Cody and Totodile guessed that they heard about the mission somehow and Team Skull was going to stop them from succeeding.

"Did you guys do anything to stop Team Skull?" Totodile asked Aang seriously.

"Actually, I did try talking to them so that we won't fight for a bad reason," the young Avatar told him. "I even wanted to play with them, but they threatened to gas us."

Sokka thumped him lightly on the head and retorted, "Well, if you didn't AirBend us away, we would've fought those jerks!" He took out his boomerang and inspected the edge with careful precaution while Aang looked at him with worry in his dark gray eyes.

Cody let out a sigh, got out his treasure bag, and told the team, "Well, we're going to find Team Skull again and try talking them out of fighting." He got up to stretch and added while pointing to the table with his tail, "AFTER we finish breakfast."

Both Aang and Sokka were amazed about how Katara and the Pokémon worked together to fix this for all of them. Cody was happy to see that look of appreciation on their faces and he let out a purr-like noise in his throat when Sokka immediately started to chow down. Soon enough, the others joined him in breakfast.

**...**

Cody, Totodile, and Aang walked down the only path on the island where the land reached the shore. They had decided to help Katara wash their dishes and clean the table, and she was very grateful for their eagerness. After they had helped her clean up the camp, the three of them went on ahead to confront Team Skull.

"Stop right there, punks!"

The voice made all three of them whirl around to see a large purple skunk Pokémon sitting on top of a boulder. Surrounding him while floating in the air were a blue bat-like Pokémon and a purple round gassy Pokémon. And a fourth Pokémon stepped out: it was a brown crocodile-like Pokémon with dark eyes and it seemed to be standing on four legs.

Cody stared at them in amazement. He remembered when he had last seen them; they were beaten harshly by Kabutops and his Omastar henchmen after they purloined Chimchar's Relic Fragment. The male Pikachu thought they died after that since they didn't show up at Treasure Town, but they must have been exploring. And robbing.

To the brown Pokémon, Totodile asked it, "Who the heck are you, croc?"

The Pokémon giggled viciously and it said in a nerdy voice, "I am Sandile, a Ground-&-Dark type Pokémon. I am a new member of Team Skull and we're here to defeat the Avatar! After that, we can play Dungeons and Dragons!"

"More like Dunces and Dragons," Skuntank muttered. Then he added to Cody, "Yeah, he's a nerd, but he's actually helpful. Such as helping us beat your butts! Chaw-haw-haw!"

Koffing added, "Whoa-ho-ho."

Zubat finished, "Heh-heh."

"But we don't want to fight you, Skuntank," Aang told the Team Skull leader. "I just want to make peace with you guys."

As soon as Aang finished, Skuntank pounced at the Avatar and tackled him to the ground. Aang inhaled deeply and, when he exhaled, a gust of wind blew Skuntank off of him and making him land on the ground, snarling with rage. He shook the dust off of his purple-&-cream fur and snapped his jaws angrily.

Skuntank leaped again, but this time, it was Cody who met him head-on with an Iron Tail attack while Skuntank slashed at his face with Night Slash. Cody felt pain sear through his face as the claws sliced at his left eye, blood spraying in the air. He his cheeks sparkle with electricity as he shot a jolt of Thunderbolt at Skuntank, who shot a Flamethrower through the Thunderbolt and hit the Electric-type.

Zubat, Koffing, and Sandile leaped forward to defend their leader, but Totodile fended them off with a powerful Ice Beam. Zubat dodged it, charging with an Aerial Ace and slashing across Totodile's chest while Koffing spat at him with Sludge. Sandile pounced at Totodile, using Sand Tomb to trap him in the whirling sand. Aang tried to help Totodile out, but Zubat and Koffing got in the way while Sandile kept Totodile trapped. It seemed to be the end, being outnumbered three-to-four.

But before things got more serious, a huge white animal slammed down on top of Skuntank. Koffing and Zubat rushed forward to help their boss, but the large creature blew a gust of air at them, blowing them back. Sandile released Totodile from the Sand Tomb and stared on at horror at the newcomer.

"I'm outta here!" he called as he fled from the scene.

"Us too!" Koffing and Zubat called after him.

Meanwhile, Skuntank crawled out from beneath him and snarled at Aang, "You watch yourself, kid! Fire Lord Ozai will reward us deeply for your head!"

"Wait a minute," Cody replied, shaking his head in distrust and piecing this together in his head. Then he growled, "You're working for Ozai? How could you be so stupid? Even after Chatot saved your pathetic lives!"

"It's the way our team works," Skuntank snapped before running off after his teammates. "Hey, boys! Wait for me!"

After the angry Pokémon left, Aang ran to the creature that interrupted the battle and hugged its large head. In return, the animal licked the Avatar in the face very affectionately.

Cody was surprised to see an animal like this; it looked like a mix of a bison and a manatee. It also had a flat, beaver-like tail, brown eyes, shaggy white fur, and a brown stripe that ran along its back, from tail-tip to forehead, where it ended in an arrowhead. It had six-legs with three toes on each foot. And like Cody, Totodile was also amazed by this creature.

"Hey, Aang, who's that?" the Big Jaw Pokémon asked Aang when he finished hugging the animal.

Aang looked at them in surprise until he realized who Totodile was talking about. Leading the bison-like animal to them, he introduced them, "Guys, this is Appa, my pet Bison. Appa, these are Cody the Pikachu and Totodile. They're our new companions."

Cody and Totodile nodded at Appa, who let out a roar and leaped on top of Cody and began licking him. They had no idea animals were like this, but it seemed that there would be a lot more to see on their journey. But for now, that didn't bother them or distract them at all; they were amused by Appa for now.

While Cody laughed at the bison's antics, Totodile looked up at the sun and said, "Looks like it'll be around lunch. That fighting made me famished! Who's with me for some lunch?"

All three of them ran ahead because they wouldn't need Appa to fly yet. The camp wasn't too far away and the four of them made it back to camp as easily as walking to a kitchen. When they came back, Cody couldn't see the white motionless rock in the back of the camp anymore; he guessed that Appa was the "motionless rock".

As soon as they entered the camp, Katara was the first one to greet them and asked them, "So did those guys decide to leave you alone?"

"They wanted to fight us and Skuntank said that he and his companions work for the Fire Lord. But why would the Fire Lord want to wage war in the first place? I always thought he was a peace-keeper?" Aang told her.

The female WaterBender gave him a mildly surprised look since the Avatar didn't know much about the War, Totodile mouthed to Cody the words _True that,_ and Sokka strolled over to them. Then he started saying, "If that's the case, we better pack up and head to a different spot to avoid the Fire Nation. So where should we go?"

Totodile seemed to tense up with an idea, for he leaped for Sokka's bag and began digging in, ignoring Sokka's surprised "Hey! Get out of there!" When he grabbed Totodile and pulled him out, the Big Jaw Pokémon was holding a map in his hands.

Cody watched as his friend gave Sokka his map and hurried back to his side, waiting for a reply. Sokka's eyes widened, watching Totodile open the map, before saying, "There's a beach on the island where there isn't any Fire Nation soldiers. How about we go there?"

"Or maybe there," Totodile reprimanded the Water Tribe warrior, jumping to his shoulder to give him a _donk _on the head and pointing to the river on the map. "I really love rivers."

"Uh...that'll work, too..."

**...**

After they traveled to the river, they set up camp and it was already nightfall. The entire team decided to call it a day and go to sleep in their tents so that they could go to the Southern Air Temple to visit Aang's old home. Cody knew that the Pokémon Square was nearby and he didn't want Aang or his friends to find out yet until some point in the mission.

Cody and Totodile walked over to their sleeping bags, ready for the night. The Pikachu felt his eye sting a little; Katara had managed to wipe the blood away from the cut on his eye, but there was nothing she could do about the scar. But to him, a scar was all he needed to know that he had helped a friend in need.

As Cody and Totodile went to their own tent to sleep in their beds, Katara poked her head into the tent and asked them, "Hey guys, could one of you sleep with me in my tent tonight?"

When they heard that, Cody and Totodile looked at one another for a few seconds. Then Totodile gave Cody a grin before pushing him to her, saying, "He'll come." To Cody, he uttered, "I know you like her and this'll give you time to find out more about her personality."

Cody nodded and followed Katara out of the Pokémon's tent and into hers.

It looked very comfy with Water Tribe stuff on the pelts; there was a small cabinet at where she probably stored her stuff. He watched as Katara stretched, yawned, and laid down, saying, "Hey, Cody, would you like to sleep next to me?"

"Uh, sure. Besides, it looks roomy in here," Cody stammered, looking around the room. It looked like a very cozy hut or cabin on the inside almost like his Rescue Team Base.

"I know. But we're not going to be in tents like this all the time. We're still somewhere near the Southern Water Tribe; it'll get warmer once we get more up north," Katara clarified as she made a tiny bed for him next to her. "Now get some sleep. We got a busy day in the morning."

Cody replied, "Okay."

He moved forward and laid next to her, letting out a big yawn. Katara turned the candle-lamp off before lying down next to him on her back. Today had been a very eventful day.

**...**

As they laid there, Cody looked at Katara, hopped on top of her, and laid on her slender belly to circle around and fall asleep, relishing his body curled up on top of her warm body. Katara had seen that, but she didn't yell at him to get off or took him away from his spot; she watched him doze on her belly through sleepy yet amused eyes. Then she forgot to say something:

"Cody?"

"Yeah, Katara?" the Pikachu replied, opening one blue eye.

Katara blushed and thought over the words she was going to say. Then she finally said, "Cody, thank you for rescuing me from that bear today."

Cody chuckled, "No problem. But don't give me all the credit. Totodile also helped out with the fight; he also got Aang and Sokka for you."

"Well, tell Totodile I told him thank-you," Katara replied. "But you were the one who was so brave today."

"Aw, come on. You're gonna make me blush," Cody laughed softly as he curled up into a ball on her belly. "Good-night, Katara."

Katara murmured back, "Good-night, Cody," before they both yawned and fell sound asleep.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat11: Again, I decided to upload this chapter on the same day as the first one. And did I mention that these two were uploaded on Christmas Day? But anyways, I hope each and every one of you is having a good Christmas so far today!**

**But anyways, it's time for the reviewing thing as usual. If any of you find the time to review this chapter, you'll get the same virtual reward like last chapter. And that would be those Christmas cookies I talked about. Flames will be used to cook the holiday ham. And here's the preview for the Southern Air Temple; we're getting into the series now!**

**Preview: Cody, Totodile, and the humans go to the Southern Air Temple, where Aang was born and raised. But while they go there, they discover something that would make Aang very upset. Meanwhile, an enemy Aang battled before meets an enemy who poses a threat to his quest.**

**See ya next time! And Merry Christmas!**


	3. The Southern Air Temple

**AvatarCat12: I've decided on something else. I've decided to keep out the flashback moments from the entire series. But I'll use the flashbacks for a talk show I might make soon; not to mention some moments from Family Guy.**

**But please don't get mad at me for excluding those flashbacks. It's just that it takes a bit longer than expected. However, don't worry. I'll mention SOME flashbacks, but I won't use any. Enough of that for now; let's just get on with the story.**

**Summary: Cody, Totodile, and the humans go to the Southern Air Temple, where Aang was born and raised. But while they go there, they discover something that would make Aang very upset. Meanwhile, an enemy Aang battled before meets an enemy who poses a threat to his quest.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Pokémon or Avatar: The Last AirBender, I'd be a millionaire. But I don't own them; however, if I owned Pokémon, I'd make a different fifth generation.**

**Updating Date: December 31, 2011**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_The Southern Air Temple_

Cody gave a contended yawn as he woke up from his good-night's sleep. He remembered Katara inviting him to sleep in her tent next to her, but he felt a bit disappointed when he woke up to see that she wasn't there right now. It seemed that she had carefully removed him from the top of her slender belly and put him down onto the floor.

The young Pikachu stretched as he stepped outside. Totodile was out by the entrance of the tent to greet him.

"'Morning, Cody!" his partner greeted him, patting him on the shoulder. "You ready for another day of exploring? This time, we're going to the Air Temple!"

"Really?" Cody yawned one more time before adding, "Well, we should go see how the other humans are doing."

After they got the drowsiness from their eyes, they walked outside the tent to see the team right next to the river. One of the members was in fact asleep in a Water Tribe sleeping bag on the ground. Appa was standing, grazing slowly, while a small fire cast a plume of smoke. Cody gave a smirk when he and Totodile could see Sokka sleeping his heart out; sometimes, it's tough being a human.

As Cody approached Appa, he could hear Aang speaking, "Wait 'til you see it, Katara. The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!"

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the friskiness in his voice; he got a feeling that the Avatar had a crush on Katara like he did. But if they were to compete for her, it would have to be good natured, not like those cat-fights you see on T.V.!

"Aang, I know you're excited," Katara was telling him with caution in her voice, "but it's been a hundred years since you've been home."

"But that's why I'm so excited!" Aang told her, his voice full of hope.

Cody exchanged a befuddled glance with Totodile, who shrugged and told him, "Don't look at me, buddy. Alakazam was the one who told us that he'd be hibernating for a hundred years!"

The Pikachu nodded to him while turning back to the conversation. He could hear Katara tell Aang, "It's just that a lot can change in all that time."

"I know," Aang replied to her. "I just need to see it for myself."

"At least that's something," Cody said, strolling up to them. He leaped onto Appa and walked over to Katara, who was doing some work on Appa's saddle. "It's better to check something out rather than go on without looking."

Aang told Cody, "You're right," before he floated down from Appa's back and walked on over to Sokka, who was snoring peacefully in his sleeping bag on the ground. Totodile gave Sokka a snort of amusement before scrambling up on top of Appa and helping Katara with Appa's saddle.

"Wake up, Sokka!" Aang called to the sleeping 15-year-old. "Air Temple, here we come!"

But when Sokka woke up, he just made grumbling sleepy noises.

"Sleep now, Temple later," he muttered before rolling around and snoring once again.

Aang blinked a few times, and Cody guessed he wasn't a whole lot pleased. He was beginning to get a mischievous look on his face, but Cody felt that he should do the honors of being Sokka's alarm clock like being Garfield the cat. Before Aang could step forward again, the male Pikachu stood in the way.

"Allow me," he simply told him.

As Katara watched him, he went to the top of Appa's head and began wriggling his haunches. He could hear Totodile chuckle happily at seeing him act like a Psyduck. _Well, yuck it up all you want, Totodile, _he thought with mock anger. _You'll see that I can be a great alarm clock! _He wriggled his haunches again (making Katara giggle), took a deep breath, and pounced.

"CANNONBALL!"

As he landed on top of Sokka, who woke up from Cody's shout, the Pikachu stood in front of him, yelling, "Sokka, thank God you're up! Fire Nation soldiers are coming! And a rattlesnake's in your bed!"

Sokka immediately got up in a startled way, shouting, "Aaahhh! Get them away from me!" And then he hopped around hysterically in his sleeping bag until he lost his balance and fell on his face.

While Katara laughed again, Sokka rounded on Cody, snapping, "What are you doing?"

"Waking you up, comrade," Totodile answered for his Electric-type friend. "We're going to the Southern Air Temple, or did you forget?"

Before Sokka could come back with a rude retort, Aang called out for them.

"Great! You're finally awake!" the young Avatar called to them. "Let's go!"

With exchanging smiles, Cody and Totodile grabbed Sokka by the hood of his Water Tribe coat and dragged him to Appa, where Aang levitated him up with AirBending while the two Pokémon climbed on top of him. They were leaving the island where the two Pelliper had dropped Cody and Totodile off.

**...**

**(AvatarCat11: Now we're going to the point-of-view from the B-Group; that's with Zuko, Iroh, and their Pokémon.**

As a Pokémon prowled alongside Zuko, the banished Fire Nation Prince, he remembered when he was bought. He was born as a wild pure Pokémon; his brother had moved away from the family earlier than usual, his mother was captured by FireBenders, and he never knew his father. Then, he had been taken to a meat market, but Zuko had saved his life because he needed a partner to help him hunt down a person called the Avatar. He looked out to the Fire Nation naval yard. Tents and buildings lined up at the right side of the docks, ships lined up at the left and what looked like a railroad line ran down the middle.

This was an Absol, his dark blue to gray body covered in snow-white fur, with a ruff around his neck and chest, and a tuft on the top of its head adorned with a single blue-black oval. He had a feline face, a scythe tail and a sickle growth on the side of his head. His body was sleek and cat-like. His broad circular paws were equipped with three claws each, and spikes protruded from the heels of his hind legs and the elbows of his anterior legs. His head looked like a Yin-Yang symbol.

Absol gave a snort of distaste when his eyes rested on Zuko's damaged ship. It was much smaller than the other Fire Nation ships. _Do they expect me to sleep in there?_ The prow of the ship had been opened, its spout lying on the floor of the navy yard. But he calmed down when Zuko's uncle's Torkoal walked to him and nudged him playfully. Iroh had this Pokémon ever since he was a child.

Torkoal was indeed an orange tortoise-like Pokémon with a dark brown shell with red spots. His eyes looked closed, but he could see very well.

Zuko was telling his uncle, "Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." He seemed to very impatient.

Torkoal patted Absol's shoulder calmingly with his front leg and said, "Don't take his disrespect the wrong way, my young friend. His path had been torn since his banishment."

The Disaster Pokémon just gave a nod and focused on the chat between uncle and nephew.

"Do you mean the Avatar?" Iroh asked his impatient nephew. Unlike Zuko, Iroh had a positive side and he was very friendly and easygoing. Absol thought that since he was a former general of the Fire Nation army, he would be rougher, but he was wrong.

Zuko turned on his uncle angrily and snapped, "Don't mention his name on these docks! Once word gets out that he's alive, every FireBender and their Pokémon will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" an unfamiliar voice rang out to the two humans and Pokémon. Another voice added scornfully, "Yes, what's the rush?"

They turned to see a middle-aged man with Fire Nation armor, black hair, and golden eyes stroll to them with a large flaming duck-like Pokémon behind him as they spoke. The Magmortar had a smug look on his face as he leered at Absol with unfriendly eyes while the man's hands were clasped behind his back authoritatively.

"Captain Zhao," Zuko mumbled to him with contempt in his voice.

"Actually, it's _Commander_ Zhao now," the man corrected Zuko. Turning to Iroh, he greeted him, "And General Iroh, great hero of the nation." He bowed before the former Fire Nation general.

Iroh nodded before bowing back and telling him, "_Retired_ general. And I can see your Magmar has evolved while we were away!" he added, reaching out to pat Magmortar on the head.

Commander Zhao smirked and said, "Yes, we were at the Earth Kingdom of Omashu when Magmar seemed to pick up some sort of object called a Magmorizer. I'm not entirely sure what it's used for, but it did cause him to evolve into the Pokémon you see now. Anyways," he went on, giving them a nod, "the Fire Lord's brother and son and their Pokémon are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?"

Zuko glanced around to see Absol backing away from him. The Disaster Pokémon was looking at him as if to say _Don't look at me._

Absol glanced on as Iroh glanced at his nephew and then at Torkoal. He replied while pointing to the ship, "Our ship is being repaired."

Zhao gave a swift glance at the ship while Magmortar gave Zuko a wary glare. Absol hastily stepped between his new owner and the large Fire type Pokémon, hoping he himself didn't get harmed by a powerful Fire Blast. He didn't know why he was defending Zuko; it just seemed a bit natural for a Pokémon.

"That's quite a bit of damage," Zhao commented, looking the ship over.

Zuko replied with a hasty tone, "Yes...you wouldn't believe what happened!" Absol smirked a little when the Fire Nation Prince looked sideways at Iroh and passed the buck, saying, "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

As Iroh did a double-take look at his nephew and said "Yes, I will do that," Absol heard a sigh of displeasure echo from Torkoal, but he didn't care much about if he was in trouble. Until he was brought to the meat market, he had been struggling hard to survive in the wild after his family was separated. Being alone without a family had made him develop a bitter heart.

"We're waiting," Magmortar chuckled.

"It was incredible!" Iroh finally said. "What...did we crash into something again?" he added, leaning over and whispering to Zuko.

Giving an uncomfortable glance at Absol, who still didn't want to help, Zuko managed to say, "Uh, yes, we crashed into something! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship!"

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details." Zhao responded as if he didn't believe the young banished Prince. He smiled and put his face right up to Zuko's that Absol recognized as an obvious challenge. "Will your four care to have a drink with Magmortar and me?"

Magmortar added slyly, "Yes, do tell, please."

"Sorry," Zuko retorted, although Absol could tell that he wasn't sorry at all, "but we have to go."

Absol walked right up to Zuko and the two began to walk away, but Iroh pulled Zuko back by grasping his shoulder to make him halt while Torkoal pulled Absol back by grabbing his tail in his jaws.

"Prince Zuko and Absol, show Commander Zhao your respect," Iroh scolded his nephew and the Disaster Pokémon. Torkoal grunted the same thing and Absol began to find them very annoying. Then Iroh told Commander Zhao and Magmortar, "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."

Zuko growled in frustration and released fire from his fists angrily. Absol extended his claws and glared at the red sun while he thought of the sweet revenge he would get for being forced to dine with the enemy. He gave the same growl his owner did as they followed Zhao, Magmortar, Torkoal, and Iroh down the dock.

**...**

Cody never felt more alive as Appa soared through the sky with the two Pokémon and the three humans on his back. This was like riding in the beak of a Pelliper and on the back of a Staraptor, but this was a bit smoother. Cody wandered away from Aang and Katara because he heard an unfamiliar sound and he turned to see the source.

He laughed as Sokka muttered to his growling stomach, "Hey, stomach, be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food."

Cody heard Totodile try to hide a snicker as Sokka searched the food bag and dumped it onto his glove. Only a few crumbs fell out onto the glove. Cody remembered reading Garfield the Cat and Garfield would eat toast crumbs crazily on a diet.

"Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?" Sokka snapped.

As Cody gagged a little at hearing about blubber in a snack food, Aang turned around to face Sokka as he said in a confused tone, "Oh, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry."

"And I ate the leftovers," Totodile added gleefully and not sounding TOO sorry.

Sokka looked very shocked as he yelped loudly, "You WHAT? Awww, no wonder the flames smelled good."

Cody didn't get it. _How do flames smell good? I didn't smell anything, _he thought. All that he smelled was the usual burning things that were leaves, sticks, and wood. But he had to admit that he had smelled a faint scent of snow and ice on Katara and Sokka, although Katara had a sweeter scent.

As Appa flew over what Aang had called the Batola Mountains, Cody was reminded highly of the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains back when he was a human. He had never been in the Rocky Mountain range, but he had been born in the Appalachian Mountains. Since he was born in the mountains, he had a liking for them and liked exploring them.

"The Batola mountain range! We're almost there!" Aang called to the four other travelers.

Cody and Totodile took this moment to scan the area. It was a breathtaking sight from the back of Appa. There were a lot of Flying-type Pokémon like Pidgey or Swablu around the mountain area, though Cody could have sworn he saw a Pidgeot or two around the mountains.

Cody suddenly heard Katara say, "Aang? Before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the AirBenders."

"What about them?" Aang asked her.

Cody and Totodile exchanged looks before they walked up to Aang and Katara and sat down next to them, eager to listen to what they had to say. Totodile was nodding as if he knew that this conversation wouldn't be a pretty one.

"Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see," Katara told Aang, rubbing Cody behind the ears as he sat on her lap. It felt good to be petted by a girl that he was friends with. She looked down at him while speaking to Aang at the same time, "The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother and they could have done the same to your people."

Aang looked a little down at first, but then he began looking surely encouraged again. "Just because no one has seen an AirBender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped."

Katara looked back up at him and replied, "I know it's hard to accept."

"Hey, he said _probably, _Katara. That doesn't mean they're entirely extinct," Cody piped up in defense for Aang. He leaped away from her and went to sit by Aang.

The AirBender agreed with him by saying, "You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an AirBender temple is on a flying bison...

"Yeah, I'm sure the Fire Nation doesn't have a bison day care,"Totodile chuckled to Cody.

"...and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison. Right, Appa?" he added, rubbing the bison's head.

Appa let out a grunt of confirmation, although Cody knew that Appa was instead saying, _Are we there yet?_

Aang gave a "Yip yip" to Appa, and Appa flew them up higher, turning around a mountain face. Katara and Sokka were straining against the sheer wind the faster they moved while Cody and Totodile took pleasure in the feel of the wind in their faces. Appa flew up over a rocky ledge and treetops to reveal the tall spires of the Southern Air Temple.

_It looks so awesome! _Cody thought happily. The Temple looked very big while Cody felt puny, for he was a small Pokémon. Totodile walked up to him and asked, "Did you get a great load of the view? It looks so awesome!"

Cody nodded, even though Totodile had quoted what he just thought. _That was disturbing, _he thought in an amazed state of mind.

"There it is, everyone! The Southern Air Temple!" Aang announced to the other passengers as they gasped in awe of the majesty of the Temple.

"Aang, it's amazing!" Katara replied to him, her voice filled with admiration.

As Cody stared at the majesty with astonishment, he saw Aang pat Appa on the top of his head as he told his bison, "We're home, buddy. We're home."

**...**

Before Absol walked into one of the tents, he took one final glare out at the ocean. He walked into the tent, which was mostly large, with a projecting Fire Nation symbol on it. Two guards, flanked by large standing firepots, stood at the ready in front of this tent.

When he walked inside the tent, he saw Zuko, Torkoal, and Iroh sitting at a table in front of Zhao and Magmortar. The latter two were standing with their backs to the four outcasts, inspecting a large map of the world upon the wall.

Zhao was saying, "And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom Capital will be under our rule." However, Iroh had stood up to inspect some weapons on the wall as Zhao turned to face them, finishing his sentence, "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in the War."

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool," Zuko spat bitterly.

Absol didn't know what the deal was. Prince Whines-A-Lot seemed to be whining a lot about his honor, but he didn't care. He was raised without a father, so he couldn't go over and nuzzle him like a pet wannabe Pokémon. So Absol just came to the table and sat down beside Torkoal.

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue," Zhao commented, sitting down next to Zuko probably to tick him off. "So, how is your search for the Avatar going?"

Absol saw Torkoal wince when he saw Iroh tip over the stand of weapons he was examining on the wall of the tent. The commotion brought the conversation to a temporary yet awkward halt. Iroh cringed at the mess he had just made while Magmortar gave him an enraged glare.

"My fault entirely," Iroh apologized before walking off guiltily to somewhere else in the tent.

Absol had very good hearing and he could hear Magmortar whisper to Zhao angrily, "You were just gonna watch while the old fart tips over OUR stuff? He and that Torkoal of his owe us one thousand Poké for the weapons!"

However, Zhao let out a mere chuckle in reply while watching Tea-Lover move away. "Patience, Magmortar. It will be done with soon."

Zuko was watching this scene also, but he managed to look calm as he told the Commander, "We haven't found the Avatar yet."

"Did you really expect to?" Zhao responded, hiding a bit of a sneer behind his answer. "The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the AirBenders. Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is still alive," he added as Zuko averted his eyes guiltily and Absol prowled forward. Even though he wanted his new master to face his fear, he didn't want him to face it alone.

"No, nothing yet," Zuko answered, still not looking Zhao in the face.

Zhao rose from his chair quickly and Absol placed himself between him and Zuko, ready for a fight. He felt his claws glow, ready to use a Shadow Claw attack on the Commander of the Fire Nation Army. Only when Torkoal shook his head quickly and mouthing _No! Not in here!_ did he step back and let his claws go back to normal.

But Zhao wasn't going to attack them all; instead, he stepped forward and snarled, "Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an _ounce..." _At that, he leaned his face towards Zuko's face "...of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found."

"Yeah. So fess up, punk," Magmortar added, pointing to his eye. "Because we hear what you do."

_What an idiot, _Absol growled inwardly.

Once again, he felt his claws glow dark purple and Magmortar's fist glowed red, ready for a Fire Punch. If they wanted a fight, then they could have it. But when Zuko spoke up, both Pokémon relaxed to hear what he had to say.

The Prince said boldly yet coolly, "We haven't _found_ anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle. We're going," he told Iroh while the Disaster Pokémon beside him gave a sigh of relief. Now they could get away from this dictator of a FireBender.

Zuko got up from his chair and was about to exit the tent when he was blocked by the guards, who crossed their spears in front of him. While Torkoal began to cough out smoke in alarm, another guard approached Zhao and Magmortar to give out his report.

"Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody but let him escape," the guard told them.

Magmortar nodded his head and praised the guard, "Good job, fellow FireBender."

Zhao nodded in agreement before walking up behind Zuko and asking him in an ominous voice, "Now remind me how exactly was your ship damaged?"

Zuko looked down with defeat while Absol glared upwards at Magmortar with a defiant glare. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but he was going to fight his way through, one way or another. But Torkoal didn't look so brave, for the tortoise-like Pokémon was backing away from the enemies.

**...**

"Race you to the ledge over there, Totodile!"

"No fair! You know you're faster than me, man!"

Cody and Totodile laughed as they tumbled around in the dust together. They heard thudding behind them to see that Appa was plodding on what looked like a landing platform with a path leading up. The travelers were going up hundreds of feet of winding path curving back and forth across the rock face of the temple's mountain.

When they got to the humans, Aang was already going around the bend to another part of the mountain. Right behind him, Katara and Sokka followed more slowly. But Cody and Totodile were well enough and fast enough to race up ahead.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka was moaning with a very irritable look on his face. He was clutching his stomach to show his hunger.

Cody heard Katara sigh and retort, "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to _ever_ visit an AirBender temple, and all you can think about is food?"

_I thought it was the Southern Air Temple, _Totodile mouthed to Cody. The Pikachu nodded back.

Sokka gave another retort at his sister: "I'm just a simple guy with simple needs."

"Yeah, sure. And I'm Adolf Hitler wanting to take over Earth," Totodile told him sarcastically. He added more gently, "Look, it's just a little walk around this mountain. Then you'll get your hands on some food."

"But it's too hard to walk around this mountain; we've never been climbing up mountains before! You ever think of that?" Sokka snapped at Totodile.

The crocodile-like Pokémon nodded sharply and growled, "Of course I do! Cody and I have been to mountains and back in just a few hours on our Rescue missions!"

Cody felt this was getting riotous, so he aimed a small Thunderbolt from his cheeks to separate the quarreling travelers. They were at a peaceful and quiet mountain, but Sokka and Totodile were already arguing! He got the feeling that his best friend didn't like the Water Tribe warrior, but he wasn't going to spoil this mission!

"Knock it off, you two," Cody spat. "Katara's right. You need to forget your hunger, Sokka; just get over it. And Totodile, don't go picking on him for the entire trip!"

Sokka muttered something that Cody couldn't hear while Totodile hung his head and replied, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Cody."

Cody gave his friend a cheering smile as he told him, "It's all right. Not many people can control their thoughts, you know." To the humans, he said, "We're getting left behind, guys. Let's catch up to Aang."

The two humans and Totodile nodded and followed the young Pikachu as he ran down a slope down to another part of the mountain face. Cody was the smallest of the group, so he slithered easily down the icy rocks while Totodile climbed wearily over them. But Katara and Sokka had to have been raised to walk over ice and snow, for they were climbing over the ice with ease.

Aang was already at the edge of the path where he stopped to let the others catch up. They did just that, and he was pointing below them to a vast field with lots of bamboo sticks.

"So that's where my friends and I would play AirBall!" the young Avatar was saying, gesturing at the parapet cut into the rock face below the path.

Cody was awed when he saw that the parapet was populated with a thicket of densely packed sticks of varying heights that have been stuck in the ground. A goal with a backboard occupied either end of the field. Cody thought that it was a mixture of a soccer ball field and a bamboo forest. He remembered his sister and brother playing soccer while he went to the Cub Scouts as a human.

He looked beside him and saw Totodile observing the area and nodding his head with approval. Cody guessed that his best friend was thinking of the field as a training ground to test their speed and maneuverability.

Aang was pointing to somewhere else, but his words were falling as he stammered to find the right words, "And... over there would be where the bison would sleep... and..." His voice trailed off as he sat down and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked him while Totodile came forward and rested his hand calmingly on the monk's arm.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison," Aang told her sadly. "Now there's just a bunch of weeds. I can't believe how much things have changed."

Totodile's eyes lit up when he heard Aang say the word _lemurs_ and he was getting ready to do a little dance like the lemurs from Madagascar. But Cody gave him a reproachful stare and the Big Jaw Pokémon sat down beside the Avatar. Totodile was Cody's best friend, but when it came to the movie Madagascar, he would be out of his mind.

While Katara and Sokka walked to their friend, Cody wished that he knew some way to cheer him up and he was going to suggest having some lunch. But he wasn't feeling hungry right away, so he couldn't get that up.

But Sokka had just beaten him to it, for he changed the subject by asking, "So this AirBall game? How do you play?"

Aang changed his emotion from sadness to playful happiness, and Cody didn't know what was going on. _Looks like we'll find this out the hard way, _he guessed.

A few minutes later, Aang and Cody were on one side of the playing area at the backboard while Sokka and Totodile were at the opposite end, ready for action. Cody had forced the two to be on the same team so they could learn to cooperate and play nicely together. But Katara was the only one sitting out from this game, for she said she just wanted to see her friends have fun. To ready the game, Aang arranged for a nearby Loudred to sit on the board and let out a Howl attack to start the round.

When the Loudred let out a Howl, Aang began Bending a fast circling air ball to keep it floating above his stretched right hand. Suddenly, he started working the ball like a Harlem Globetrotter before tossing it in the air over his head. Sokka and Totodile followed it with their eyes darting from left to right. Aang put his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and smiled, waiting for the ball to come back down. He opened one eye and Bended the air at the exact moment to send the ball bouncing through the sticks like a pinball in an arcade game.

To keep the ball bouncing, Cody used his Quick attack to zoom from one pole to the other and bounced the ball around with his Iron Tail. With a hefty Iron Tail, Cody sent the ball flying at high speeds straight at Sokka and Totodile. Totodile dodged to one side, saying "I dodge," while Sokka was hit in the stomach and launched backwards through a rotating door in the backboard. Then he fell to the ground unharmed while Totodile slid down.

"Hahaha!" Aang cheered happily, jumping up and down with excitement. "Aang and Cody one, Sokka and Totodile zero!" While he cheered, he showed the score with his hands, seven fingers for him and a zero between his touching fingertips for Sokka and Totodile.

Then a surly-looking Gabite stomped out from the poles and growled up at him, "I hope you pay the home bill! That was quite a racket up there!"

Aang called down "Sorry!" to the Ground-&-Dragon type Pokémon; Gabite went back into the poles, muttering something not heard.

Back on the ground, Sokka rubbed his back painfully, muttering to Katara, "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt."

"Good. That should make you build character!" Totodile retorted.

Cody landed back onto the ground and glared crossly at his friend. Even after they lost, Totodile was still mad at Sokka. Back at Pokémon Square, the Big Jaw Pokémon would usually accept a loss with honor. But now, Totodile was glaring over at Sokka with his arms crossed and glaring at him as if he were a stupid teenager; Cody hoped that they would get along soon.

But Sokka didn't seem to notice the hostility, for he seemed to spot something and crawled over to it. He called, "Katara! Cody! Totodile! Check this out!"

All three of them watched as Sokka pulled something out of the snow and Cody saw what it was: it was a red and black helmet that had a skull-like feature at the face. There were horns poking from its head like a demon or a bull.

"Fire Nation," Katara muttered accusingly when she saw the helmet.

Cody tried to take the helmet from the ground, but Sokka nudged him back. With a resentful growl, he asked him, "So what? Fire Nation was here? And what's the big idea of hogging the helmet?"

"We should tell him," Sokka told Katara, ignoring the sparked-up Pikachu.

Katara nodded to her brother and turned around to call in the opposite direction. "Aang, there's something that you should see."

"Okay!" Aang called back, approaching happily while balancing the ball on his palm.

But seeing that happy look on the Avatar's face made Cody gaze up at Katara with pleading eyes. But they weren't entirely pleading; his eyes were giving her a choice. He didn't want to make a choice for her, but he wanted to make sure she did the right thing.

That look made her look uncertain as she also looked back at Aang. Finally making up her mind, she WaterBended the snow on the nearby bank down onto both the helmet and Sokka. Totodile was also caught in the snow and he got up from it, shivering, so Cody had to come to him and warm him up with his yellow pelt.

Totodile was a reptile-like Pokémon, so he couldn't regulate the cold. But Cody was a mammal-like Pokémon and he COULD put up with the frost.

Aang finally caught up to them and asked Katara, "What is it?"

"Uh..." Katara began, looking as if she forgot what to say. Cody, who was still warming Totodile up, nodded his head at her, telling her to go on. Then she said, "Just a new WaterBending move that I learned."

"Nice one. But enough practicing. We have a whole temple to see!" Aang told her, walking away from them and onwards to the temple.

While Cody and Katara gazed on after him, Sokka pulled himself out of the snow pile, wiped the snow off of his head and shoulders, and told Katara, "You know, you can't protect him forever."

"You don't have the right to-" Totodile began to growl, stepping forward and shivering.

"ENOUGH. Let's go," Cody told them as he padded up ahead with his other friends behind him.

Aang was right; they had an entire temple to explore. More Poke to collect, more Pokémon to battle, and more sights to see!

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

_**...**_

Cody and Totodile gazed up together in awe as they and the two Water Tribe siblings followed Aang to the front gate of the Air Temple itself. While the two Pokémon looked upwards, Aang ran in alone, leaving Sokka and Katara a moment to speak alone and for Cody and Totodile to go on gazing up at the gate.

"Katara, FireBenders were here. You can't pretend they weren't," Cody heard Sokka remind his sister.

Totodile glared from behind him, ready to give an angry reply, but Cody held him back and muttered, "No way, buddy. Not this time."

However, Totodile relaxed as Katara retorted to her brother, "I can for Aang's sake."

Then, without another word, she walked away from him to catch up to Aang. Sokka followed her and came up behind her. As the two humans walked side by side, Cody and Totodile followed them after Aang.

"If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated," Katara told her brother and the Pokémon as they walked on.

Totodile growled an agreement, but Cody asked, "Why are you growling at him?"

"What? I was just agreeing with what Katara said!" Totodile snapped. "Give her some credit, man!"

Cody was about to give his friend a retort when Aang called from up ahead of them, "Hey, you guys! Over here!"

The two Water Tribe siblings and the two Pokémon dashed up to him and they caught up with him as he was motioning to the statue of an AirBender. Cody looked the statue up and down; whoever created this statue sure did a good job with it.

When they arrived at the statue, Aang told the four others, "I want you to meet somebody."

Sokka tilted his head to one side and asked, "Who's that?"

Cody gave a rumble of amusement at that. Then he turned to Totodile and asked, "Do _you_ know who that is, Totodile, old buddy?"

"Uh...no, I don't," Totodile replied, looking very uncertain and confused. "Wait, why?"

"Nothing," Cody replied, turning back to Aang and asked him, "So who is that? That's what I'd like to know also."

"This is Monk Gyatso-" Aang began.

"Wait, what? Is his name Monkey Atso?" Totodile asked Aang, his amber eyes wide with confusion.

Cody was wondering about how this Air Nomad was related to the young Avatar. But he guessed that how Totodile was saying the name wasn't entirely correct. For now, Cody decided to give his friend a little pronouncing lesson.

So he told him, "No, I think it's MONK GYATSO."

Aang nodded and replied, "You're right, Cody. He's the greatest AirBender in the entire world. He taught me everything I know." At this, he looked back at the statue of the elderly AirBender and bowed to it, a sign of deep respect.

Both Cody and Totodile instantly bowed their heads in respect for the AirBender, whose statue was standing in front of them. Suddenly, when they looked up, they found themselves standing by several small trees that swayed in the breeze and they found themselves surrounded by railing and building. Standing near an oven and baking a cake was an elderly man with a long white mustache, the same man Aang introduced them to.

"It's a flashback! Wait, why are we in one?" Totodile asked.

Cody shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe it's important."

But the two Pokémon swiftly quieted down as the old man began speaking.

"...but the true secret is in the gooey center!" the old man was telling an Aang from many years ago, not noticing the two Pokémon. A Pidgeot with a headband around its neck was sitting down beside its master.

Cody and Totodile exchanged glances of joy. Totodile exclaimed, "I told ya this is a flashback, Cody! We should have these once an episode!"

"Which means the kid over there is certainly Aang," Cody replied, pointing his fore paw at Aang, who was undeniably moping around. _He shouldn't mope out on a cooking lesson, _the young male rodent thought in indignation.

Aang just simply nodded without hearing Cody and Totodile talking. "Hmmm..."

Cody was worried that Monk Gyatso would yell at his pupil for not paying attention; he knew the ugliness of being yelled at. But instead, to his surprise, Gyatso just asked Aang gently, "My ancient cake making technique isn't the only thing on your mind, is it, Aang?"

"This whole Avatar thing... maybe the monks made a mistake," Aang replied in an emotionless voice.

_How could he think that?_ Cody thought.

He and Totodile gasped to each other with their mouths wide open like frogs. Certainly being the Avatar could be a GOOD thing? He couldn't believe Aang wasn't happy about being the Avatar; then again, he decided to keep this a secret for now.

"The only mistake they made was telling you before you turned sixteen. But we can't concern ourselves with what _was_. We must act on what _is_," Monk Gyatso told Aang, gesturing to the world around them.

The view of Cody and Totodile expanded before them to show the air around the temple full of flying bison and other inhabitants. The beautiful dreamlike surroundings were full of life. Not only were there AirBenders and bison and lemurs, but there were also many Pokémon, which were mainly Flying-type Pokémon. Several Taillow were nipping at fruits on the tree while a large Fearow was sparring happily with a Dodrio.

"Dude, this is awesome!" Totodile exclaimed. "...unless we put a hot dog stand right near those bison," he added, pointing at the bison chewing on some fruit nearby.

Cody shook his head and retorted, "Not in a lifetime, pal."

Totodile grinned goofily at him as he added, "I'm kidding, dude!" Cody smiled back, knowing that his friend was joking.

Aang looked up at his teacher and asked, "But Gyatso, how do I know if I'm ready for this?"

Gyatso sat up, exchanged a smile with his Pidgeot, and said, "Your questions will be answered when you are old enough to enter the Air Temple sanctuary. Inside, you will meet someone who will guide you on your journey."

"Who is it?" Aang asked him, jumping up excitedly all of a sudden.

"When you are ready, he will reveal himself to you."

This cryptic speech made Aang sigh in frustration and Totodile commented, "It's just like the old saying: when the student asks a question, the teacher...will say something else to keep your mind preoccupied."

"That's it, Totodile. No more fortune cookies for you," Cody retorted as they saw Gyatso pull the cakes from the oven.

The young Pikachu's mouth began to water and smelling those juicy pastries with that gelatinous filling sitting right on top of them made him sigh, "Oh my God, those smell so good!"

Totodile nodded as Gyatso said, "Now are you going to help me with these cakes or not?"

Cody was relieved to see Aang look up and smile at his teacher when he said, "All right!"

Both Pokémon watched Aang and Gyatso assumed their AirBending stances, with the four cakes sitting on the wall. They both cocked back a little, creating balls of wind with their AirBending skill as Gyatso counted. Pidgeot was standing beside them, his wings held out in front of him.

"One...two...three!" Gyatso announced. And they let the magic work.

Both released their Air Balls on the count of three, driving the cakes high into the air. They made some kind of typical whirring noise like a whistle as they come down. Totodile nudged Cody and pointed ahead; he was pointing at four meditating monks, who were each wearing the four cakes. They heard sound effects mark each splattering as the cakes landed and the monks were enclosed by winged lemurs, which began feasting on the cakes.

Pidgeot was even luckier; his Gust attack had made the cakes land in front of the bison. But a few Farfetch'd used their Fury Cutter attacks to slice up a slice or two and eating it.

As the two AirBenders began laughing with amusement, Cody and Totodile were rolling around on the ground. Totodile had tears of amusement leaking from his amber eyes as he hooted with laughter.

"Dude, that was awesome!" he told the Mouse Pokémon. "How about we do that ourselves next time?"

"Sure!" Cody laughed back.

The two Pokémon watched on as Aang and Gyatso bowed to each other politely. Gyatso patted his young student's head warmly; it seemed he was almost like his grandfather.

"Your aim has improved greatly, my young pupil," the monk murmured while Pidgeot nodded in agreement.

While Cody and Totodile sighed happily at that sight, the flashback suddenly ended. When the bright light faded away, they saw Aang bowing to the statue of Gyatso, just as he had bowed to the real Gyatso at the end of the flashback. They were back in the real world and they wished that there were more flashbacks like the previous one.

"You must really miss him," Katara murmured to Aang, coming forward and placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I do," Aang replied as he moved forward to go into the Temple.

When Cody saw that they were going to the Temple, he cheered, "Who-hoo! Temple time!" He gave a little dance before dashing off after the young Avatar. He wondered what Pokémon or other stuff lay inside there.

Katara called after them, "Where are you going?"

As he climbed the steps, Aang called back, "The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet."

"And it'll be exciting!" Cody added and Totodile nodded with agreement. They wondered about how their lives would be affected if they set foot into the temple. Katara looked around at Sokka and her brother just shrugged.

Totodile was already ahead of them as they followed Aang and Cody up to the entrance of the Air Temple Sanctuary. Cody and Totodile gasped in astonishment; it was a huge wooden door that was dominated by an enormous woodcut comprised of three air symbols protruding from its surface. They were arranged in a triangular pattern. The symbols were attached to tubes that end in two horns like a tuba near the bottom of the woodcut.

"But Aang... no one could have survived in there for a hundred years," Katara protested as she caught up to the Avatar and the Electric-type rodent.

"It's not impossible. I survived for that long," Aang reassured her.

Cody leaped on top of Katara's shoulder and added, "He's right. Wait...what?"

"He was frozen in an iceberg when Sokka and I found him. It's a long story," the fourteen-year-old girl told him, scratching his ears.

Cody didn't entirely understand about being frozen in an iceberg. But he did see an episode of 1000 Ways To Die when a stupid guy got into a plane and froze to death at high altitudes.

Aang nodded and went on, "Anyways, whoever's in there might help me figure out this Avatar thing!"

"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious, cured meats!" Sokka suddenly blurted out, popping so suddenly out from behind Aang.

The Water Tribe teen rubbed his hands together in excited hope of the food that might await him. He rushed forward and ran straight into the door with a 'thunk.' He strained very hard against the big door to no avail and slid down to the floor in defeat.

Totodile didn't say anything this time, but he instead shook his head with disappointment. Cody gave him a confused look; it was a good thing that Totodile wasn't jeering at him, but the male Pikachu was quite interested in this.

"What's that for?" he asked his friend as he pulled him aside.

"I just think he doesn't know what the true key is," Totodile said.

"Do YOU know?"

"No."

They walked back to the group as Sokka asked Aang, "I don't suppose you have a key?"

Aang just smiled and replied, "The key, Sokka, is AirBending!"

Soon enough, Cody and Totodile sat back and watched as Aang composed himself and drew in his breath. He raised both his arms perpendicular to his body, and then he pushed forward with his arms and steps forward with his right leg. He AirBended two jets of air, one from each arm, into the horns at the bottom of the woodcut.

Cody could sense the air run through the tubes. One by one, the air symbols flipped to the blue sides from the maroon sides, which had been facing the interior of the temple. As each turned, it flipped another mechanism on the outside of the door to unlock it.

The two leaves of the door opened to reveal the dark hollow inside of the Air Temple Sanctuary. "Hello? Anyone home?" Aang called inside as he looked around.

"Echo!" Totodile cheered as he looked around. It echoed back to him, so he called "Echo!" back again and got the same result. Cody, Katara, and Sokka followed them inside and stared around at the empty room.

**...**

Zhao crossed in front of a seated and clearly unhappy Prince Zuko while Absol and Magmortar glared at each other angrily. A pair of guards stood behind the young prince. Torkoal looked very nervous and was puffing out black smoke from his mouth in a scared manner.

"So a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your FireBenders? You're more pathetic than I thought," the Commander sneered.

Magmortar jeered, "Yeah...loser!"

"Why, you big stupid-" Absol began to growl, speaking for the first time in this story.

But they were interrupted as Zuko snarled angrily, "I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again."

Zhao replied with a slight bit of a threat in his voice as he said, "No, it will not, because you won't have a second chance."

Absol saw shock and alarm spread across the young FireBender's scarred face. He could almost understand him, but his own bitter heart left him standing where he was as he continued to glare at Magmortar. For now, Zuko's needs would have to be put to the side.

"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-" Zuko began to protest, his golden eyes mixed with alarm and anger.

"And you failed!" Zhao stopped him, turning on him angrily. Flames erupted from his hand as he swept it in an arc from left to right. As he towered over Zuko, he went on, "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now."

Suddenly, Zuko launched himself at Commander Zhao in frustration and anger, but he was restrained by the two guards standing behind his chair. Absol slashed for Magmortar's belly with a Shadow Claw, but the Blast Pokémon dodged it and pointed his cannon-like hand at him, ready for a Fire Blast. Magmortar slammed his other hand down on Absol, pinning him down.

Zhao let out a jet of flame from his fist to silence everyone. The Pokémon stopped fighting to pay attention to the Prince and the Commander of the Fire Nation army.

"Keep him here," he told the guards and then added, "Make sure you bring a Machoke or two to handle that criminal Absol." Then he turned around and walked out of the tent with Magmortar following his master.

Zuko, in a further act of frustration, kicked over a small table that had been sitting near Iroh and it broke into pieces. Absol didn't do anything, but he now felt sort of sorry for the exiled Prince. He had a goal to regain his honor, but Zhao snatched it away like a Staraptor snatching up a Caterpie.

Iroh and his Torkoal watched the scene calmly after the tortoise-like Pokémon had calmed down. "More tea please?" the former general asked.

"And how about some pieces of coal?" Torkoal added, shoving a piece of coal toward Absol. The Disaster Pokémon gently shoved it away, knowing he wasn't a Fire-type and didn't eat coal.

**...**

Meanwhile, back at the Southern Air Temple, the three humans and the two Pokémon were strolling around in the deep part of the Sanctuary. There were many statues arrayed in some sort of strange pattern and the pattern was tied to a swirl pattern on the floor with the statues arrayed along it; it looked just like a blue Yellow Brick Road.

_More like the _Blue _Brick Road, _Cody chuckled to himself.

The five of them walked among the statues, heading to the center of the room. "Statues?" Sokka suddenly shouted with indignation. "That's it? Where's the meat?"

"Hey, I wouldn't shout if I were you," Totodile told him in a spooky tone. "They'll hear you, grab you, and suffocate you until you die of fright."

Cody pulled Totodile back by the tail and said, "Dude...don't do that. You know that scares me."

He said this because he was scared of a picture in a book called Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. It was from a story called The Girl Who Stood On A Grave and it ended with her stabbing herself by accident and dying of fright. The picture still haunted his thoughts today and so did the other pictures in that book.

After he finished, Cody ran over to Aang and Katara, who were observing the statues. The male Pikachu leaped onto Katara's left shoulder, his whiskers brushing against her cheek, and saw the statues. They all looked very ancient.

"Who are all these people?" Katara asked Aang as she and Cody observed one of the statues.

"I'm not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow," Aang replied, uncertainty filling his voice and his dark gray eyes. "Look!" he added as he pointed to a statue. "That one's an AirBender!"

"This one looks like some kind of muscular guy who looks like he could carry rocks," Cody said as he pointed his lightning-shaped tail to the statue of a muscular man.

Katara giggled at this and said, "That's an EarthBender, Cody. And this one's a WaterBender," she added, pointing to a statue right next to the EarthBender. "They're lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth and fire."

Aang had a recognizing glow in his eyes as he told Katara and Cody, "That's the Avatar Cycle."

"Of course! They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang," Katara replied, gazing around at the statues with wonder in her blue eyes.

"Wow, there's so many of them!" Aang said as he also gazed around at the statues of the past Avatars. This seemed like a good home for him to live in, but he would need food and shelter.

Cody looked up at the Avatar Statues and said, "I'll say! There's so many that this makes Las Vegas seem like a one-Rapidash town!"

Katara looked down at him in wonder. "Las Vegas?"

"It's a city from when I was a human," Cody replied.

He hopped off his friend's shoulder and walked around the statues. He looked back to see that they had stopped staring at him and they were now looking at the statues of the Avatars again. Cody looked up at the ceiling to see the many tiers of statues to illustrate just how many lives Aang has had before him.

"Past lives?" Sokka had come back and had rejoined the group with Totodile following him. "Katara, you really believe in that stuff?"

Totodile looked ready to retort, but Katara held him back as she said, "It's okay, Totodile. I'll handle it." To her brother, she said, "It's true. When the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle."

Cody beckoned for Totodile to join him as they went to talk to Aang; the young Avatar was standing in front of a FireBending Avatar. A light passed over its eyes, marking its importance.

_It's Avatar Roku! _Cody realized, remembering the dreams of the great FireBender appearing in his dreams like Gardevoir used to do. When Cody and Totodile went to the statue, Katara walked up to behind Aang and shook him gently by the shoulders.

"Aang, snap out of it!" she called to him to wake him up from his trance. Totodile looked ready to squirt him with a Water Gun to wake him up, but Cody shook his head and said, "Hold your fire, buddy."

"Huh?" Aang answered her, looking at her in surprise.

"Who is that?" Katara asked him as Totodile tapped Aang's leg to see if he was awake.

Aang looked back at the statue and said, "Oh. That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me."

Cody longed to tell the three humans about how Roku had appeared in his dreams and he didn't even tell Totodile. But if he told them right away, they would probably expect him to dream him up as soon as he fell asleep. Right now, this was not the right time to tell them, though Alakazam could know.

"You were a FireBender?" Sokka asked Aang with amazement in his voice. "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."

"What do you mean?" Totodile asked him sincerely. It seemed he really was trying to get along with the Water Tribe teenager.

_Hopefully it lasts, _Cody thought.

Katara just gave Totodile a pat on the head and said, "It's a long story. I'll tell it to you and Cody when we leave the Air Temple." She inspected the place where there would normally be writing. "There's no writing. How do you know his name?" she asked Aang.

"I'm not sure..." the AirBending Avatar just told him, shrugging. "I just know it somehow."

To Cody confusion, Sokka let out a growl of frustration and snapped, "You just couldn't get any weirder!"

Cody was grateful Totodile wasn't snapping at Sokka in a snappish attitude. The only time he had ever snapped at HIM was when they had to rescue a Jumpluff and find Shiftry. Totodile pretended to have an upset stomach so that they wouldn't meet the "monster" of Silent Chasm. When Cody was asked to say that he had the same thing, he just said that he felt fine. Totodile got irritated and told him he was his friend and that he should back him up some more.

Before anyone could say anything else, the five travelers sensed the presence of another being and turned about-face to look at the entrance. A long-eared shadow was advancing toward them in an ominous way.

The three humans and the two Pokémon decided to get huddled behind two of the statues. So they did just that; Aang, Katara, and Cody hid behind one on the left while Sokka and Totodile hid behind one on the right. The shadow advanced between the two statues in a still-ominous way.

"FireBender," Sokka whispered to his companions. "Nobody make a sound."

"You're making a sound!" Katara retorted with exasperation.

Both Aang and Sokka told her "Shhhh!" while Cody and Totodile pressed their fingers to their lips to silence all three humans.

As the statue got nearer to them every second, Cody felt the electricity spark around his cheeks. He was now ready for a fight, but he hoped that the enemy wasn't too big. It still didn't stop him from defeating Groudon, Rayquaza, and Primal Dialga.

_If it wants a fight, it'll have one!_

__**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

__**...**

As the three humans and two Pokémon crouched behind the statues, Cody let some sparks of electricity surround his tail. He immediately placed himself in front of Aang and Katara, ready to defend them to the death. Totodile leaped out from another statue while ignoring Sokka telling him to get back.

"That FireBender won't know what hit 'em," the young Water Tribe warrior whispered as he readied his weapon.

"Yeah!" Totodile replied, agreeing with Sokka for the first time ever. "He's gonna get it harder than the time when I didn't know what a fart was!"

But Cody held out his tail for silence since the long eared shadow was now right on top of them. Cody squinted to see the black outline of a small animal in the doorway who was just casting a long shadow due to the position of the sun outside. Totodile and Sokka jumped out from the statue, boomerang and Shadow Claw at the ready. Aang and Katara also came from behind Cody to look.

But when Cody saw the intruder, he held back a coo while everyone else blinked. Each person registered the very small stature of the adorable intruder. It was just a winged lemur looking at them with wide eyes. His long ears flopped down on his back as he saw the people and Pokémon staring at him. He blinked his eyes to the rhythm of everyone else blinking at him. Soon, three of the travelers had a different reaction:

Aang was the one who shouted, "Lemur!"

Sokka was the one who drooled and groaned happily, "Dinner..."

"Julien!" Totodile called out.

_Has Totodile been watching Madagascar again? _Cody thought, remembering one of his favorite movies. He even loved the DreamWorks movie when he was a human.

"Don't listen to them! You're going to be my new pet!" Aang reassured the lemur.

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka retorted, a crazed glint in his blue eyes.

Totodile was now dancing on the spot, shouting, "Don't celebrate Julienanuary without me, King Julien!"

Both humans and Totodile lunged at the small animal. But as their arms were stretched towards the lemur while they rapidly closed in on him, the small creature bristled like a cat and dashed away from them, screaming. All three of them began running after the lemur, which was now bolting out of the temple.

As Cody watched them go, Katara asked him, "Aren't you going after them?"

"Nah. They'll be okay," the Pikachu said. He didn't want to reveal the fact that he was staying behind to protect her. He was worried that another bear or worse would be coming after Katara. Cody was also worried about Totodile; his friend must have gotten crazy after not watching the Madagascar movie for quite a long time.

Totodile called out to the fleeing lemur, "Yo! Wait up, partner!"

"He's right! Come back!" Aang shouted as he also chased the lemur.

"I wanna eat you!" Sokka called to the fleeing animal.

Aang, Sokka, and Totodile ran back down the hallway from the Temple Sanctuary, chasing after the lemur. All three took turns leading the other two. Sokka took a swipe at Aang's legs with his weapon while Totodile used Ice Punch on the ground to stop them both, but Aang used his AirBending skills in a Matrix-style move to run along the wall beside Sokka and Totodile and passed them, laughing as he does.

Once far enough ahead, the Avatar stopped, turned around, and launched an AirBall spinning back toward the two of them. It hit Sokka in the stomach and knocked him off his feet like a bowling ball hitting one lone pin with his hood over his head. Totodile, however, dodged to one side saying "I dodge again!" and ran off after him still.

The lemur jumped up onto the guardrail of a balcony outside, looked back as Aang approached, and then jumped off the guardrail. The Avatar leaped off after him, with the wind blowing as he jumped off to provide a clear look at the long fall beneath him. Totodile heard Aang laughing as he fell, bouncing off the rocks beneath him as he continued to chase the lemur.

Totodile turned around to see Sokka, who finally reached the balcony, lean over to watch Aang fall. "Hey! No fair!" he shouted down at him.

"He's an AirBender, dude," Totodile reassured him. "I found a way to get a shortcut down this mountain. But you're not to go eating Julien! Understand?"

**...**

Absol watched as Zhao and Magmortar approached the exterior of the large tent, opened the flaps, and entered. Two guards with two Growlithe standing ready inside the entrance drew their spears back.

"My search party is ready. Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you and your Pokémon will be free to go," the Commander of the Fire Nation army said. He was facing Zuko and Iroh facing each other in their chairs while Torkoal looked from left to right with nervousness on his face.

"Yeah! Lookin' for the Avatar!" Magmortar replied elatedly. "No one's gonna stop us now!"

Absol sneered as they approached Zuko to tell him that. He couldn't wait to get into battle with that smirking Magmortar. The Blast Pokémon had taken after his owner a lot as if he was his brother or something like that. But while the Disaster Pokémon thought of this, he heard Zuko growl beside him:

"Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you? You and your Pokémon?"

Zhao gave a cruel laugh and retorted, "You? Stop me and my partner? Impossible!"

As Zuko got up quickly from his chair, Torkoal began coughing out smoke, a way to show that he was very frightened. He retracted into his shell and peeped out from there as he watched the two FireBenders glaring at one another.

_He needs to pluck up some courage._

"Don't underestimate me, Zhao!" Zuko snapped as he and the Commander stood nose-to-nose. "Absol and I _will_ capture the Avatar _before_ you and Magmortar."

Suddenly, Iroh stood up from his chair and chided his nephew, "Prince Zuko, that's enough!"

Torkoal pulled himself out from his shell, plodded over to Absol, and added, "He's right, young one. Do not make anything else that will make things worse."

"I wasn't going to..." Absol retorted.

But the two Pokémon stopped talking to each other when Zhao spoke up again, his voice full of spite. "You and your Absol can't compete with me and Magmortar. He and I have hundreds of warships under our command, and you... you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

Zuko took a look at Absol and turned back to the Commander, snapping, "You're wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne."

"If your father really wanted you home," Zhao retorted coldly, "he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"Yeah! You're just a little wimp. A weak pitiful wimp! A little weak pitiful wimp!" Magmortar put in, stomping forward.

"That's not true!" Zuko snapped.

Absol put in, "He's right! You don't wanna see him in a fight!"

Zhao gave Absol a revolted look and told him, "Well, he has the scar to prove it."

Suddenly, with a cry of indignation, Zuko launched himself to his feet, bringing his face within inches of Zhao's. "Maybe you'd like one to match!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"An Agni Kai," Zuko growled. "At sunset. Pokémon excluded."

Zhao just had some kind of look in his golden eyes and he turned to Magmortar, who nodded. Then he said, "Very well. Our Pokémon will watch us. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and Pokémon will do." Then he turned around and left the tent with Magmortar stomping off after him.

Absol glared after Zhao and Magmortar, and he felt very angry. He wanted a chance to prove his strength in a battle and prove to Zuko that he could be a reliable Pokémon partner. But the Fire Nation prince seemed to take that away, for Absol was a bit angry at him also.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh suddenly told his nephew, "have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget," Zuko muttered, looking to the ground.

Absol glanced up at him and turned to Torkoal. "Why? What happened?"

Torkoal let out a breath of resignation, black smoke coming out of his shell and nostrils. "Oh, he got beaten in an Agni Kai and...You see his scar on his eye? He got it from the same Agni Kai."

"Oh."

**...**

A small black-&-white starling-like Pokémon watched as the lemur that Avatar Aang, the human he was tracking, had been chasing had been running quickly on the ground as fast as an ostrich. Aang pounced at it and missed his target. Starly lifted off and watched as the lemur ran through a curtain made of decaying tent material or long curtains.

"Hey! Come back!" Aang called out, but the lemur didn't notice or stop. Instead, it went on as the Avatar followed the small animal to the other side of the curtain. "Come on out, little lemur. That hungry guy won't bother you anymore."

Aang approached another drape, parted it, and walked right through it. Starly suddenly heard a sharp draw of breath, and, when he followed him in, was alarmed at what the Avatar saw. Right before them were heaps and heaps of FireBender uniforms and skeletons covering the floor of a decaying building.

As Starly gasped silently to himself, Aang stammered with surprise, "FireBenders? They were here?"

_Of course they were! _Starly thought with a stab of concern.

But something else made Starly gasp. At the back of the grotto, there lied the skeletal remains of an AirBender monk, bathed in sunlight coming from above. The monk had apparently fallen in combat fighting against great odds. Aang gasped at when he saw the skeleton's necklace.

"Gyatso..." The young Avatar fell to his knees, looking very devastated.

Starly flew over to his shoulder, patting his head with his wing. He felt very sorry for the young Avatar.

Totodile gasped as he and Sokka stopped in front of the curtain and they stopped to rest. When they were ready to go in, Totodile warned Sokka, "Dude...don't eat that lemur!"

" I can and I will!" the Water Tribe teenager retorted, pulling the curtains back and going inside. "Hey Aang, you find my dinner yet?"

But when Totodile stepped in to stop Sokka from getting the lemur, he suddenly heard some sort of crying. He pushed some stuff aside and walked over to stand beside him. Aang was just sitting there, hid head in his hand as he continued crying while a Starly was patting his head caringly. Plus, he could see some tears drop to the ground.

"Aw, nice going, man!" Totodile scolded Sokka angrily. "You made him cry! You better fix this!"

Sokka walked past the Big Jaw Pokémon while trying to ignore the Starly on Aang's shoulder. It was giving him quite a nasty glare when he asked the Avatar about "his dinner." But the Starly just fluttered off and landed right on top of a pillar, watching them with dark eyes.

Sokka bent low to talk to Aang and told him gently, "Aang, I wasn't really going to eat the lemur, okay?"

But what Totodile saw next made him gasp: for the first time, he noticed the heaps of skeletons littered all around the ground. There must have been a battle going on that happened a very long time ago.

"Sokka...look..."

The Water Tribe warrior looked at the skeleton of an AirBender surrounded by FireBender skeletons and did a double take. "Oh, man... Come on, Aang, everything will be all right. Let's get out of here."

What happened next surprised Totodile some more. Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder as the arrow on the AirBender's head began to glow a shimmering blue. Totodile couldn't bear to see the look on Aang's face; his eyes were glowing brightly in an angry expression as he lifted his head. Sokka gasped as he looked on in alarm and Totodile tugged on his leg in fright.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" the crocodile-like Pokémon chanted in an alarmed squeak. "What'll we do?"

He turned to see if Starly was still there to help them out. However, the Normal-&-Flying type Pokémon had already flown off and away from them.

**...**

Cody lifted his muzzle into the air and sniffed vigilantly while Katara walked behind him among the statues in the Temple Sanctuary. She stopped in front of Roku, whose eyes were suddenly lighting up with a radiant blue light. The eyes of all the other statues began lighting up in order around the room.

With a yowl of alarm, Cody leaped onto Katara's shoulder and watched as all the statues' eyes lit up in succession.

"Aang!" Katara shouted with fear for her friend. Then, before Cody could reply, she just turned around and raced from the room. Cody felt that this was quite a bumpy ride, so he leaped off and ran beside her on his four paws.

He was panting, "Katara, what's going on?"

The female WaterBender looked down at him while running and replied, "I don't know, but it looks bad! Really bad!"

**...**

Alakazam lifted his head to the heavens in mild surprise. He, Charizard, and Tyranitar, had just finished rescuing a Metapod and a Kakuna from a flash flood when they noticed the beam of a shimmering blue light rising into the sky. As the two Bug-type Pokémon jumped down from the arms of Alakazam's comrades and hopped away, the two big Pokémon approached their leader.

"Hey, Alakazam," Charizard spoke first. "Do you think that's the Avatar making all that light?"

Alakazam faced his partners and then up to the sky again. "Why...yes. I suppose it is. Cody and Totodile must've found him after all."

Tyranitar looked up into the sky like his leader and asked, "And do you think it's a good thing?"

"No," the Psi Pokémon replied. "It is a traumatizing moment for the young Avatar. He must have discovered the fate of his fellow AirBenders, and now he must learn to live in the world we all live today. What's more is...he has returned to save us all."

**...**

Meanwhile, Cody and Katara had finally reached some kind of decrepit building at the base of the temple where Aang went off to while chasing the lemur. Cody could see the power beneath Aang's feet, where a whirlwind began to form, air swirling fast around bones lying on the ground.

The Avatar was crouching low, his hands balled into fists and his eyes and arrow glowing, the wind picking up terrible speed around him. It looked like he was going to summon a hurricane at any time.

"Aang! Snap out of it!" Sokka was shouting to him about the roar of the wind.

"Yeah! Get your head out of the clouds! No pun intended!" Totodile called out also.

However, the AirBender didn't listen to them; instead, a light blue sphere of energy surrounds Aang and begins to expand, knocking a screaming Sokka and Totodile back out of the building. But Totodile was almost blown off of the mountain.

The energy sphere expanded to the point where it blew half of the building apart, sending smoke and debris high into the air. Sokka and Totodile managed to land just outside the building. Cody could see a Starly fly back to Aang, who was now somewhat obscured by the large energy sphere and the maelstrom. Katara and Cody joined up with Sokka and Totodile behind some wreckage, all four shielding their faces from the fierce wind.

"What happened?" Katara called out to Sokka.

"Yeah! And what's with the glowing effect?" Cody added.

Sokka looked over to his sister and called to her, "He found out FireBenders killed Gyatso!"

Katara looked over to Aang and gasped, "Oh no! It's his Avatar spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm gonna try and calm him down."

Cody looked up at her and added, "I'm coming with you. I know, I know," he went on when she opened her mouth to protest. "I don't have to come along if I don't want to. But I want to. I'm not gonna let you or anyone else die here!"

"Well, do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka shouted, hanging onto the rubble and trying hard not to get blown away.

"I'm with him!" Totodile called to Cody. "You know how hurricanes behave!"

The young male Pikachu nodded to him before he and Katara slowly approached the young Avatar, struggling against the wind, as Aang and his energy sphere slowly rose into the air like the moon itself.

_We're not gonna give up!_

**...**

Absol had to admit that there was good work done on the Fire Nation arena, a simple four-walled structure with watch fires on the four towers at each corner. There was one big open gate that let anyone in, including the battlers. The sunset was a very glorious and quite elaborate mixture of Fire Nation colors: red, orange, and yellow.

When he went inside, he looked over to where Zhao and Zuko kneeled, preparing for battle. Zhao was with Magmortar and four of his men in attendance, Zuko with his uncle and Torkoal.

"Remember your FireBending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons," Iroh was telling his nephew.

"Yes, Try your best," Torkoal added kindly. "If you lose, you can try again later."

Absol could tell that the Live Coal Pokémon could be remembering what happened to his master's nephew by the way smoke was puffing out of his shell.

Zuko stood up and replied, "I refuse to let him win. Is Absol here?"

Iroh looked around, spotted him, and called out, "Absol! Come over and watch your master duel! We shall also have tea after this."

Even though Absol was still mad at Zuko for refusing to let him fight Magmortar, he decided to learn from Zhao's attacks. So, holding back a sigh, he got up and joined the former Fire Nation general and his Torkoal.

Zuko's shoulder wrap falls to the ground quite majestically, Absol had to admit. Zhao was also turning around, his shoulder wrap falling royally to the ground as well.

"This will be over quickly," the Commander sneered as a gong echoed around the area. Both men faced each other and assumed FireBending stances. Then...the battle began.

Prince Zuko fired the first shot, which passed harmlessly to Zhao's left. He fired again; this time, it passed through without effect to Zhao's right. Zuko fired several more, the last of which Zhao blocked with satisfaction evident on his face. Frustrated and losing control of his breath, the Prince moved towards his opponent, unleashing more fire from both his hands and feet. Zhao either dodged or blocked them all. Zhao then crouched forward and shoots flame at a point on the ground close in front of him.

"Basics, Zuko. Break his roots!" Iroh was shouting, for he was looking rather anxious.

"Break his roots?" Absol repeated with confusion. "What does that even _mean_?"

Torkoal gave him a shrug and looked back out to the arena, smoke puffing anxiously out of his shell.

_I wish he'd stop doing that! It's air pollution!_ Absol thought crossly. He could see Magmortar looking at the battle with satisfaction on his duck-like face.

Zhao fired many volleys of flame, alternating between his fists. Zuko blocked each, but he was slowly forced back. On the last volley, Zhao used his hands, knocking Zuko over and sending him skidding backwards in the dirt. Zhao took a flying jump at him and he landed as Zuko tried hard to get up, but he wasn't fast enough. Zhao fired right at him, but Zuko rolled out of the way just in time, and as he was getting up, swept Zhao's feet out from under him.

_It looks like break dancing_, Absol thought.

Zuko landed on his feet and Absol swore that he had a smirk on his face. Zuko was advancing towards Zhao, using his feet to produce small waves of flame that rushed toward his opponent. The commander was caught off balance and wobbled slowly backward. Absol looked over to his left and saw Iroh gasp, fists clenched in an expression of hope, a smile beginning to spread over his face. Meanwhile, Zuko had finally laid Zhao out flat on the ground with a blast of fire. Zuko rushed up to him, prepared to deal the final blow.

"Do it!" Zhao roared at him, anger written all over his face.

Zuko released a blast that shoots off toward the ground. As he stood erect, dropping his fighting stance, Absol was a bit confused.

_Why did he do that? Why not deal the final blow?_

Zhao looked up in surprise and disgust as he sneered, "That's it? Your father raised a coward!"

Zuko just retorted, "Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back." He turned his back on him and began to walk to his group.

Absol felt a new respect for Zuko and a new disrespect for Zhao rise in his heart. He felt that he and Zuko shared the same mind and the same actions. The banished prince gave the Disaster Pokémon a nod, and Absol gave a respectful right back.

But suddenly, to Absol's fury, Zhao got up and, with a howl of anger, unleashed a whip of flame at Zuko while Magmortar got up from the crowd and charged at him with a Fire Punch at ready. The flames surrounded his foot, but however, the flame was extinguished as Iroh interfered by grabbing his foot.

But Absol didn't pay attention as he headed straight for the Blast Pokémon with a flurry of Shadow Claws and Night Slashes which Magmortar couldn't avoid. Within minutes, Magmortar fell to the ground, alive but injured. When the Blast Pokémon struggled back to his feet, Torkoal stomped on the ground (Bulldoze) and knocked Magmortar back off his feet.

Panting for breath and wincing at a burn above his eye, the Dark-type Pokémon looked around as the two FireBenders remained frozen for a moment or two before looking back. After a few more swift moves, Iroh hurled Zhao back into the dirt with little effort. Zuko rushed forward to avenge the insult, but he was stopped by his uncle.

"No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory," Iroh told his nephew. Then he turned to Zhao with a look of condescension on his face. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat. Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you."

"I agree!" Torkoal piped up, smoke coming from his nostrils with anger, not from anxiety this time. "You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves for attacking the winner with a dirty move!"

_Wow. Talk about old timers having strength! _Absol mused. He and Zuko were very amazed at those comments; their elders seemed to have a lot of faith in them.

Iroh gave his nod to his Pokémon friend before turning around to face Zhao and Magmortar, saying, "Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious."

The ex-general turned around to leave and Zuko and their Pokémon followed close behind. With subdued anger, Zhao watched them exit the gate of the arena while Magmortar got up and whispered to him softly. Once they got outside, Zuko and Iroh began to talk.

"Did you really mean all that, Uncle?" Zuko asked his uncle quietly.

Iroh smiled at his nephew and replied, "Of course. I told you ginseng tea is my favorite."

Zuko gave him a smile and Absol gave the same to his master along at Torkoal. After that long hard day, he was now ready to sleep in the small boat, but he didn't mind about the size anymore. What everyone needed was a long well-deserved rest as they walked back to the harbor.

Absol let out a yawn as he followed them to the ship. It was such a long day that he felt asleep on his four paws.

**...**

Back at the Southern Air Temple, Aang was still in mid-air inside his ball of raw energy. The contained storm continued to rage as Katara, Cody, Sokka, and Totodile clung desperately to the rocks. No matter how hard the mission, Cody was sure to finish this one at the Southern Air Temple.

Cody looked up in time to see a large boulder fly towards Katara. Wanting to help out, he leaped off her shoulder and slammed an Iron Tail attack on the boulder, making it shatter to little pieces. When another rock flew at them, the young Pikachu repeated the same trick, except he slammed the boulder down to the ground.

Katara began shouting calmly, "Aang, I know you're upset...and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other AirBenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and I...we're your family now."

"Don't forget Totodile and me!" Cody called to the AirBending Avatar. "We're your family too. Katara's right. Even though your Nation's gone, all their people still live in you!"

To Cody's relief, Aang began to descend to the ground when she and Cody were finished. His feet gently landed on the ground. The wind died away, but his eyes and arrow were still glowing. Katara and Sokka came up to him on either side with the two Pokémon, plus Starly, right behind them.

"Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise." Sokka's voice was gentle when he told the Avatar this, and Totodile patted his former rival's leg happily with a tear in his eye.

Katara took one of Aang's hands in her own while Cody leaped onto his shoulder. The glow instantly faded from his eyes and arrow markings. Brokenhearted and exhausted, he collapsed into Katara's arms and she held him around his shoulders as they kneeled on the ground. Cody patted his head reassuringly.

_It'll be okay, buddy, _Cody promised to Aang mentally. _It'll be okay._

"I'm sorry..." Aang rasped in a tired way.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault," Katara told him, her blue eyes filled with gentleness as she gazed down into his dark gray eyes.

Cody nodded and put in, "She's right. Don't blame yourself for what happened. I don't blame you one bit!"

Aang looked up into Katara's pretty blue eyes and said, "But you were right. And if FireBenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really _am_ the last AirBender."

As Katara held him tighter and Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder, Cody started to lick away any tears in his gray eyes and Totodile rubbed his arm, murmuring a few comforting words. The Starly joined in by resting on the Avatar's shaved head and cooing sadly.

**...**

"So you were living around here to see how Aang's doing?" Cody asked the Starly after this was over.

The Starly nodded and told him, "Of course. My great-grandfather, Pidgeot, was the companion Pokémon of Monk Gyatso; his son, who was my dad, was a Pidgeotto, while my mom was a Staravia. I found out about that good old soul from my mother when I was just two months old."

Totodile came up to him and said, "Well, it seems to me you have a good heart, Starly. Why don't you join our rescue team?"

"Thanks, but I'll be happy staying here," Starly told him politely. To Cody and Totodile at the same time, he said, "I wish you and Aang luck on the journey. If something bad happens to him, please help him out."

"Deal!" Totodile agreed, gently shaking the Starling Pokémon's wing while Cody shook the other. The Starly lifted itself into the air and flew off, shouting his good-byes before flying away possibly to another part of the mountains.

Cody and Totodile gave each other a nod before going back into the temple. Totodile looked over at Cody and said, "It's a shame he wouldn't join; he would be valuable to the team. But I'm just glad that went well."

"Yeah," Cody replied. "It went much better than the time my fish died."

Anyways, when they went back to the Sanctuary of the Temple, they could see Aang standing in front of the statue of Avatar Roku once again. Cody didn't dare try and tell him until a bit later about how he had been meeting up with the FireBender in his dreams. If so, it would bring up a lot of questions.

"Everything's packed," Katara's voice spoke up as she came to stand beside the two Pokémon. "You ready to go?"

Aang didn't answer at first. But as he continued to look up at the statue, he murmured, "How is Roku supposed to help me if I can't talk to him?"

Katara reassured him by telling him, "Maybe you'll find a way." To Rescue Team Avatar, she asked, "Did Starly want to join our team?"

"He refused, but he wished us luck," Cody said as he jumped up onto her shoulder, ready for the next adventure to begin. But he smelt something familiar coming to them from the doorway.

Aang, Katara, and Totodile followed his gaze to see a familiar furry creature in the doorway of the temple; the lemur had finally returned. He ran over to Sokka and deposited a bunch of fruits and nuts at his feet. Sokka immediately began to eat hungrily as the lemur dashed away from him. Aang, Katara, Cody, and Totodile watched him with amused smiles on their faces.

"Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka," Aang commented.

But Sokka's mouth was full of food as he moaned with his hunger satisfied, "Can't talk. Must eat."

"Dude!" Totodile exclaimed, his voice filled with humor. "How can you eat all that...oh, never mind," he sidetracked as he looked at the knowing look on his leader's face.

As the lemur scurries up his chest to perch on his head, Aang greeted it in a friendly way, "Hey, little guy."

"And it seems you got yourself a new pet!" Cody purred with glee. "He'll be more of a handful than my two doxens when I was a human!" That caused everyone to laugh, even though Sokka was choking on the food. Totodile had to give him the "Slimelich Maneuver" after, as seen on SpongeBob SquarePants.

Minutes later, Cody looked over his shoulder outside the temple to see Aang, Appa, and the lemur staring out at the temple they just left. He could hear the Avatar murmur, "You, me, and Appa. We're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together. Katara, Sokka, and Cody and Totodile...say hello to the newest member of our family."

All four of them watched as Aang and the two other animals approached them. Sokka's mouth was still packed with food and, he had a piece of fruit in his hand. Totodile almost had to snatch it out of his hand for laughs, but he had suddenly remembered at the last moment and didn't egg him on.

"So what are you going to name him?" Katara asked with interest in her voice.

Suddenly, the lemur leaped away from Aang, much to his surprise, and snatched away a peach that Sokka was about to eat. He returned with it a second later and started to eat, with Aang saying, "Momo."

"It sounds like that Missouri monster, but the name might fill in well!" Cody said as he joined in with Aang and Katara's laughter. Facing an amused Totodile, who was watching Sokka gibber at this act, he asked him, "Doesn't Momo mean 'peach' in Japanese?"

"Uh-huh!"

**...**

Twilight had fallen over the land as Appa flew away slowly from the Southern Air Temple. The two other humans and the Pokémon joined Aang as he watched the temple recede in the distance as Appa flew them away. The young AirBender looked back with sadness in his eyes as the dark clouds finally obscured his childhood home from view.

Cody felt sad for him as he laid in Katara's lap, but there was a happier note: Momo had become the latest member of the team in the place of Starly, and day one of the mission was complete. The path ahead of them was bigger and more dangerous than any the male Pikachu had seen, but he was determined to walk on it to help the Avatar save the world.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat11: Today is the last day of 2011, and 2012 is coming tomorrow. And that means that I'm gonna do something special for the review thing. First, from now on, I'll give the preview BEFORE the review. And second is...well, here's the preview for the next chapter called Warrior Time!**

**Preview: While on their travels, Team Avatar stops at an island near the Southern Air Temple. There, Katara find out about Cody's favorite book series. And finally, Aang tells everyone about his parents.**

**Finally, everyone who has reviewed my stories this year will receive virtual gift baskets of my Avatar Cat series, Nightfang series, Avatar Mystery Dungeon series, and Avatar at Hogwarts series. If not, then there'll be virtual pizzas of your choice complete with virtual drinks and desserts.**

**See ya next time!**


	4. Warrior Time

**AvatarCat12: It's been a while since I uploaded this story, but I'll get to it right away. And after this, I might work on either Pokémon Mystery Dungeon or The Last AirBender And The Owls Of Ga'Hoole. But I'll also get to the other stories as soon as I can. Not only that, but I think it's high time to update either Avatar Seekers or Silver's Story.**

**But that's enough of that for now. We'll just go on with the disclaimer and summary of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I will never own Pokémon or Avatar: The Last AirBender. Got it?**

**Summary: ****While on their travels, Team Avatar stops at an island near the Southern Air Temple. There, Katara find out about Cody's favorite book series. And finally, Aang tells everyone about his parents.**

**Updating Date: January 17, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_Warrior Time_

The three humans, two Pokémon, and two animals of Rescue Team Avatar had landed on an island a little bit away from the Southern Air Temple. Katara felt really bad for Aang losing his people and Cody had sympathized with the two humans; plus, Sokka and Totodile also helped out by playing some games with him. Meanwhile, both Katara and Cody had cooked together.

Today, the young WaterBender was just walking around, searching for some berries to mix in to tonight's dinner when she heard someone saying something. It sounded like Cody was saying this:

"Look out! Give 'im the Lightning Strike!"

Immediately, Katara got into a WaterBending defense stance, even though she knew little about WaterBending attacks. But the attacks on those Fire Nation soldiers and the grizzly bear counted as techniques. Cautiously, she rounded around the corner and saw that what she expected didn't happen.

Cody was sitting under a pine tree, laughing as he read a book. The young male Pikachu seemed to enjoy himself. Katara remembered asking him to help her search for something to mix to the evening dinner, but she felt that he deserved to have some time off from that for a little while. So she began walking over towards him, feeling interested in what he was reading.

"Hey, Cody," Katara called out to him.

"Oh, hey!" Cody called back with a startled look on his face.

Katara gave him an apologetic look as she went on, "What're you reading there?"

Cody looked at her with a knowing look and showed her the book. It was a book called Warriors: Battles of the Clans. On the front were a white cat with orange eyes and black feet, a calico cat, a tabby cat, and many other felines behind them.

"It's called Warriors?" Katara asked in wonder. "What's that all about?"

"Sit next to me if you like and you'll find out!"

Katara gave him a nod and sat down next to him under the tree. Then, not much to her surprise, the young Pikachu closed his book, leapt into her lap, snuggled up against her chest, and opened the book again. The Southern Water Tribe teenage girl could see a colored picture of a reddish-brown cat with amber eyes standing on top of a rock with pine trees behind it.

Cody saw the wonder on his new friend's face and asked her, "So what do you think?"

"Well..." But the next thing Katara said made her feel embarrassed. "Back at the Southern Air Temple, you were saying something about a city from when you were a human. Were you _really _a human?"

Cody nodded grimly.

"So how'd you become a Pikachu?"

"Two reasons, Katara. One: I was asked to save the Pokémon of this world. And second: I was sick of the life of a human," Cody replied bitterly. When Katara decided not to ask him about that, the Pikachu replied more kindly, "But since I met you and your friends, I can be friends with humans again."

Katara gave him a warm smile and ruffled his head fur with her hand in another way of petting him. He seemed to not like his life as a human so badly with bitterness in his normally cheerful voice. But he seemed to love his life as a Pokémon much more, and she wondered what made him leave his former life. However, Katara didn't want to egg him on.

So she asked him, "So what's this Warriors book about?"

Cody pointed to the book and replied, "Well actually, this is one book in an awesome book series called Warriors. It's all about four groups of wild cats called Clans and they get into a lot of adventures! They don't just fight and hunt; they live by a code of honor and justice."

But when he stopped, he looked away, expecting Katara to just say "Cool" and start getting up to leave him at the spot for now. But she didn't want to upset him, so she asked him, "What are their names like?"

"Well..." the Pikachu said, giving her an grateful look, "let's say that the first part of your name symbolizes something in nature like...a plant, animal, color, or something like that. And you put the last part of the name as a part of a cat's body, something from nature, a sound, or something like that."

"Cool! Like...Fireheart?" Katara pressed on. When Cody was about to ask her something in a shocked voice, she said, "It says here by a cat named Tigerclaw that the one to kill the 'flame-colored' warrior named Fireheart would become his deputy of a Clan named...ThunderClan?"

Cody looked down and said, "Yeah! And look at this picture!

He turned a page to reveal a black-&-white picture of a tabby cat near a house. His ear was nearly split into two and there was a large scar across his muzzle.

Katara winced at the look of that cat. "Oh, Great Spirits! What happened to him?"

"I don't know. It didn't say anything about what happened to him. But he's evil," Cody told her. "Plus, I made a warrior name of my own; it's Wildfire. If you'd like..." He began blushing before going on, "...I'd like to give you one. I made a list for anyone who's interested."

Katara looked down at the list amazed at it. She didn't know the cats were so cultured when it came to naming. _These cats sure know a lot of things about nature!_

She looked all around the list and almost picked a name beginning with "Tiger", but after hearing about that Tigerclaw cat, she changed her mind. But Katara saw a word that got her interested: "Silver." She looked at the last half of the names and she saw one that she liked: "Heart."

"I made up my mind," she told her Pikachu friend. "How does Silverheart sound?"

Cody gave her a smile and hugged the Water Tribe girl around the waist. "That's a good name!" Then he pressed himself against her and snuggled deeper into her, feeling her breathing.

Katara blushed when the young male Pikachu snuggled against her chest. It made her feel quite comfortable reading along with Cody and cuddling up with him; while she breathed, Cody slipped off of her by accident and landed in the grass next to her. Giving a small giggle, Katara picked Cody back up and placed him on her lap again.

"Anyways, you wanna hear this one battle move?" Cody asked her.

Katara nodded.

Cody purred like a real cat. "Good. It's called the upright-lock. It's when you stand on your hind legs and slam your front legs on the foe. If you and the foe do it at the same time, you'll have to wrestle with each other for a bit. Would you like to try it?"

"Sure!" Katara replied, smiling brightly.

Nodding to her, Cody walked over to her and raised himself up as high as he could. He was up on his hind legs as high as Katara was when she would lie down on her stomach. The Water Tribe girl got to her knees and stood up the best she could. When Cody leaped up towards her, Katara brought herself down and caught him in mid-air, bringing them crashing to the ground unharmed. She had successfully pinned him down.

Cody blushed when her face was just inches away from his, his nose touching hers. He looked into Katara's bright blue eyes and saw the same look on her face: shock and discomfiture. The male Pikachu was about to say something when she got up, the absence of her heavier weight letting him get up.

"Um...I'm sorry," Cody stammered, also getting up. "I didn't really know that would happen."

"It's all right," Katara replied, dusting the dirt and Pikachu hairs off her Water Tribe coat. "I didn't know it would happen either. And I'm sorry for nearly crushing you."

Cody waved his paw in reply. "Ah, it's okay. I've nearly been crushed by boulders before." He paused before saying, "You wanna hear about the battle of BloodClan?"

**...**

Aang was just using his AirBending to lift a butterfly into the air when Cody and Katara came back, laughing as if they were good friends for a very long time. The young Avatar wondered what was going on between them. On the inside, he thought they had been hanging out and being friends, for he knew hanging out with friends was a good thing.

However, at first, he thought they did something rather...naughty, but they weren't panting as if they were using energy in a "sensual" way. But they must have wrestled on the ground together in enjoyment.

"Hey, Katara and Cody!" he called out. "Where've you guys been?"

"Cody was telling me all about his book series called Warriors. It's about wildcats," Katara explained. "I haven't read about them before, but I think they're so great!"

Totodile walked up to them with a few fruits in his arms. He piped up, "I love that series also! So far, we're on The Forgotten Warrior!" Immediately, he took out said book and sat down, reading it with joy.

Aang could tell that the two Pokémon really loved to read and it seemed that Katara became interested in that book series. So he sat down and asked the male Pikachu, "So what's the book series about?"

Immediately, Cody and Totodile shared a smile and a nod before going into the long explanation. While they talked, Sokka had come back with fish and was about to ask them why they weren't gathering things for dinner. But after hearing about some of the book series, he set the fish down, sat down with his friends, and joined them in listening.

When the two Pokémon were finished with their speech, the three humans asked these following questions:

Aang: "How'd you come across these books?"

Katara: "Will StarClan always be stubborn about alliances until the final battle?"

Sokka: "Can I have a warrior name?"

Both Pokémon had to raise their hands to calm the humans down. Then Cody spoke up, "One at a time and we'll answer all your questions!"

So the three humans lined up and each one gave Cody and Totodile their list of questions. They seemed to have a lot of questions and the two Pokémon answered them all without making a mistake. After that, Aang and Sokka were able to get their warrior cat nicknames since Katara already got hers. Aang was now "Goldwing" and Sokka was now "Ashfeather."

Soon, when the sun was going to set behind the trees, Sokka looked up to see the sun setting. Then he said, "Guys, the sun's setting. Let's go and make some dinner now."

The four others agreed and Rescue Team Avatar went on with their chores, like making dinner and setting up the silverware. All those chores were enough to let them make dinner sooner than they thought,

**...**

When dinner had come, Cody looked into the bowl of soup and sniffed it gingerly. When he was a human, he had a rather big appetite except when he would get sick, but he was quite uncertain about the soup in front of him; the only foreign food he was used to pizza, spaghetti, and lasagna. He could see the three humans give him a confused look and the male Pikachu had to try and look calm.

"What's the matter?" Aang asked him curiously. "Aren't you hungry?" He had just returned from feeding Appa and Momo, who were sitting right next to the campfire.

Cody looked down at his bowl again and murmured, "What's in here? It looks weird. "

Sokka looked as if he was offended by the Pikachu not liking fish, but Katara held out her hand and told her brother, "Take it easy. He's autistic and he's got quite some favorites about eating."

Her brother closed his mouth to think about it and spoke, "Sorry. I've just heard of an autistic person before, but I've never heard of an autistic Pokémon!"

"And now you do!" Totodile told him. He looked like jumping forward to defend his friend, but Katara had solved that problem and the Big Jaw Pokémon sat down again.

"And besides," Sokka added, "it's fish stew. You like fish, right?"

Cody grabbed his spoon quite easily since he had learned to pick up silverware with his paws. Giving the bowl another sniff, he dipped the spoon into the stew and carefully fished out some bits of meat and vegetables on it. Some of the meat did look like fish and the vegetables looked like beans. With a deep breath, he put the spoon into his mouth.

The taste was quite great, for he felt rich wild flavors go down his throat like a raging stream. Then he took the spoon out of his mouth and began eating some more quickly.

"This is really good!" Cody purred, licking his lips. "My compliments to the chef!"

"Thanks!" Katara spoke up; it was quite clear she was the one who made the stew.

Then after that was over, they began talking about many things like their favorite hobbies, what color they liked, and much more other stuff like that. When the humans told the Pokémon about how they met the Avatar, Cody and Totodile were quite amazed about what happened. And they had heard about how this person named Zuko was hunting them down.

But what Aang had to say next made them feel really sorry for him.

"Do...do you guys wanna hear about...my parents?" the young AirBender murmured, no vigor in his voice now. When the other four nodded curiously, Aang went on sadly, "Well...here's how it goes."

Everyone had turned around, eager to listen to another story. But this was going to be a sad one, Cody knew that.

"I was born to two AirBenders in the Southern Air Temple," Aang began his story in a hollow voice. "When I was born, some of the AirBenders said they'd take me away straight away until I was old enough to AirBend. Plus, they said they'd have to feed me Sky Bison milk from a bottle. But my mom said she was going to care for me and feed me herself; she said that's how a mother and child bond closely."

Katara was nodding as she replied, "That's true." When Cody and Totodile turned to stare at her, wondering how she knew that, she added quietly, "I've seen mothers at the Southern Water Tribe raise their children. And I've helped them out quite a lot, that's all."

Aang went on, "Anyways, Monk Gyatso and his Pidgeot knew my parents really well since they were the ones who trained them to AirBend. So he always came around to our house and talk to my parents about lots of things I didn't know yet. While at our home, Pidgeot would play games with me and Gyatso would help my mom and dad out with making dinner that doesn't have meat. But you can tell that I'm a vegetarian since I don't have any meat in my stew right now.

"But one day, when I was three," Aang went on, his voice sounding choked up, "my parents have just heard about the war Fire Lord Sozin created. And Gyatso and his Pidgeot said they would help us. But my mom said that the only way to stay away from Sozin was to give me away to the monks of the Southern Air Temple; even Dad agreed with her. Gyatso told them to stay with me, but they insisted that I was more important than they were."

At that, tears filled up his dark gray eyes and rested his head on his knees. "After that, I-I didn't hear anything from them for a while. So we had to accept that..." His voice suddenly cracked into sobs, "...that they...that they were...dead." At that, he began weeping, his face buried in his arms.

Immediately, Katara rose from her seat, walked over to Aang, and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. Cody could see pure compassion in her eyes and he couldn't help but get up from his seat also and walk over to them, leaping onto Katara's shoulder.

"Shhh..." Katara murmured to Aang, rubbing his shoulder in a soothing way. "It's all right now. You're with us. It's going to be okay."

"She's right, Aang," Cody told him while shifting his balance on the WaterBender's shoulder. "Like Katara and Sokka said before, they're your family. And we're also your family, so we'll help you out no matter what."

Shuffling noises told him that Sokka and Totodile got up and crowded around the AirBending Avatar. Cody recalled the promise Sokka made at the Southern Air Temple after Monk Gyatso's skeleton was discovered by the Avatar and Starly; that was certainly a true promise. The young male Pikachu was sure this promise would last a long time.

Katara continued rubbing Aang's shoulders as she murmured, "Your parents may be gone, but they'll remain alive inside you and you'll never be alone. They live in you and they'll always watch over you. And Monk Gyatso and his Staraptor will also watch over you and they will live in you forever. So cheer up!"

Aang looked up at her and rubbed his eyes a little with his hand. Then he smiled weakly and said in a choked voice, "Thanks, Katara. That means a lot to me. And thank you three also," he added to Sokka, Cody, and Totodile. "You guys are right. My parents will be proud of all of us for this quest. Thanks, everyone."

"No problem. It's what you do in a team: you look out for each other," Sokka told him, using one of Totodile's favorite sayings. Then he added, "How about we tell each other some folklore tales to pass the time?"

"I'm in!" Totodile cheered, climbing on Sokka's head and settling himself on top of there. "I know a really good one with the Tailypo!"

Soon enough, Aang motioned for everyone to calm down and Totodile began launching into the story. Cody was going to tell his story about The Hermit's House, but he wanted to let the others have their turn. But all the same, he was happy to share his knowledge of Warriors with Katara and her friends, and he was happy to cheer Aang up over his parents' death.

As long as they kept the past behind them, things would go right from there.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: Remember, when I get done with the tenth chapter, I'm gonna erase the old story. And please don't give me those looks; the remake is gonna look better than the old one did. So please...bear with me on this.**

**Let's not forget that The Promise part 1 and Seekers: Island Of Shadows coming out in a few more weeks! Now here's the preview for The Warriors Of Kyoshi.**

**Preview: Rescue Team Avatar lands on a small island where Aang is treated by a king, annoying Katara and Cody. Meanwhile, Sokka meets their warriors, but his rude attitude makes Totodile reconsider their comradeship.**

**If you want to review, go right ahead. If not, then that's also okay. No flames are allowed on here, for they will be turned into piles of ashes. Constructive criticism is allowed, as long as it's not too harsh.**

**See ya next time!**


	5. The Warriors Of Kyoshi

**AvatarCat12: Well, everyone, there's just one more week to go! And that week will be when I get Seeker Bears: Island Of Shadows. It's the first book in the second series called Return To The Wild. And also, next week, I'll be able to get The Promise part 1. Those of you who wonder why I don't have it, I'm getting it alongside my new Seeker Bears book.**

**As for my other stories, I might hold them off for a while until after the entire series of Avatar Cat, Nightfang, Avatar Hogwarts, and Avatar Mystery Dungeon is done. Please don't get mad at me; I just have a lot of time on my hands. Now let's get on with the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: Pokémon and Avatar: The Last AirBender do not belong to me. They never have, and they never will.**

**Summary: Rescue Team Avatar lands on a small island where Aang is treated by a king, annoying Katara and Cody. Meanwhile, Sokka meets their warriors, but his rude and sexist attitude makes Totodile reconsider their comradeship.**

**Updating Date: January 31, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_The Warriors of Kyoshi_

Absol let out a yawn as he kept one exhausted eye on Prince Zuko after a day of training. The young Fire Nation Prince was sitting in the lotus position in front of an altar. Four white candles were burning in front of him. The light from the candles increased and decreased with Zuko's rhythmic breathing. His eyes were closed in meditation, and his face was calm and focused.

Earlier, Absol had asked him if he was going to train in battle after he finished meditated, but Zuko hadn't answered him at all. So he had no choice but to sigh, lay on the bed, and watch him meditate. But watching him meditate made him bored, so he gave a yawn and fell asleep.

Suddenly, the door to the right of the sleeping quarters opened up. Iroh and Torkoal had both come in and closed the door.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar," Zuko told his uncle in a smooth voice. Absol could tell he was probably going to get very angry.

"Well," Iroh replied warily, entering and carrying a map while Torkoal crept in, "there is news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset."

To Absol's surprise, since he was certain he was always angry at something, Zuko spoke to his uncle calmly, "Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure that I can take it."

But Absol wasn't so sure about that. He and Torkoal were painfully aware that Zuko's anger was going to erupt any time soon. Torkoal was prepared to hide in his shell while Absol laid very still, not wanting to get up and flee at the moment.

Finally, Iroh gave a sigh and said, "Okay, then... We have no idea where he is."

"WHAT?"

The four candles flared to the ceiling with Zuko's scorching anger. He stood very quickly and turned to glare at his uncle, anger evident all over his face. Iroh turned away from the flames and raised his right arm to protect his face while Torkoal hid in his shell. As the flames subside, Iroh pulled a fan out of his robes.

"You really should open a window in here," Iroh sighed as he fanned himself.

"Yes. But you promised to not get mad!" Torkoal piped up timidly, pulling his head out of his shell.

_Meditation can calm our nerves,_ Absol thought, feeling more optimistic than he had in ages. But then he gave a sigh. _But it doesn't always work around this guy..._

"Give me the map!" Zuko snapped as he snatched the map right from his uncle's hands, making Torkoal retract into his shell again. While Absol shook his head in that pathetic attempt, the Fire Nation Prince opened the rolled scroll and began to study it.

Iroh continued to fan himself while Absol joined him. "There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down," the elderly Dragon of the West told his nephew.

Zuko looked down on the map and Absol had to rear onto his hind legs to see what kind of map it was. It was marked with circled Xs and dotted lines connecting the reported Avatar sightings. The lines zigzagged all over the landmass drawings. Absol had a feeling that searching for the Avatar was much harder than he thought.

The Fire Nation teenager spoke up with worry and exasperation, "How am I gonna find him, Uncle? He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

**...**

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

Totodile turned to see Sokka looking down at some sort of map with some sort of exasperated look on his face. Totodile, Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Cody were on top of Appa and flying over the ocean. The Big Jaw Pokémon hoped a little that Starly would have agreed to join the Rescue Team, but it was his choice. He didn't blame the Normal/Flying type Pokémon for the choice he made.

"Weeelll, I know it's near water..." Aang told him, turning to answer him and Totodile.

Sokka and the Water type Pokémon looked over Appa's side to see nothing BUT water. Totodile could have gone for a swim, but he didn't want to be lost at sea and surrounded by sharks. Both of them looked back up to give the Avatar confused and flat glances.

"I guess we're getting close then," Sokka told Aang in a flat voice.

Totodile slumped down onto the saddle of the Sky Bison and groaned, "We're not even close at all! Everywhere I see, there's water, water EVERYWHERE!"

Totodile turned around when he heard a voice mutter, "I'll say."

Cody was curled up in Katara's lap and watching her as she mended an item of clothing; Sokka had somehow ripped a hole in his pants. She had just started to patch it back up and the young male Pikachu had offered to help her, but she said she could handle it. Seeing yearning in Aang's gray eyes, Totodile seemed to realize that he wanted to get as much attention from her as Cody was getting.

Momo was also watching Katara and Cody while sitting on Aang's shoulder. Totodile realized that the lemur was sitting on his shoulder just like how Cody would act around Katara: leaping onto her shoulder. Totodile hadn't done it yet for Sokka, for he still felt that the Water Tribe warrior was still a bit dim-witted.

"Momo, marbles please," Aang told the flying lemur.

Momo did just that, scrambling quickly into Aang's shirt and making noises. He returned with a marble in his paw and handed it over to his master; Totodile couldn't believe that Momo was fully trained already. Smiling eagerly and cupping the marble in his hands, he said, "Hey Katara! Check out this AirBending trick!"

Then he suspended the marble between his two hands and made it spin around in mid-air. He was grinning happily at Katara, obviously wanting her attention. But Totodile saw that Katara was preoccupied, though, and didn't look up from her sewing.

"That's great, Aang," she told him distractedly.

Aang looked so crushed that Totodile felt sorry for him, but he didn't know what it was like for Cody to ignore him. Anyways, the young Avatar looked crushed and complained, "You didn't even look."

"He's right, Katara," Cody told her, flicking his tail in a concerned way. "He's trying to show you something."

Then, as if he just gave a command, Katara finally stopped her sewing and looked over to Aang. "That's great!" she suddenly said.

"But I'm not doing it now," Aang complained to her, still looking crushed at her not seeing him perform his trick.

_She _really_ needs to pay attention, _Totodile thought. Ever since Cody became a Pikachu, Totodile had always paid attention to what he was doing not just to keep an eye on him, but also because he was a very interesting Pokémon. But to pay no attention to someone just because the person liked them...that was just quite wrong in his eyes.

"Stop bugging her, airhead," Sokka spoke up. Totodile saw him lolling at the back of Appa's saddle with his arms crossed casually behind his head. The Water Tribe teenager was waving his arm dismissively in Aang and Katara's direction. "You need to give girls space when they do their sewing."

Suddenly, as if he had just shot her with a paint ball gun to annoy her, Katara stopped her needle in midair and turned her head towards Sokka. Her face was a mixture of annoyance and anger and Cody gave Totodile a look which meant _Oh no, he didn't!_

Katara turned to her brother and asked him grumpily, "What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?"

The next words made Totodile gasp at Sokka in shock: "Simple: girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."

"Oh, SNAP!" Totodile said, snapping his finger stubs. He couldn't believe he heard something so sexist.

"Dude, that was very sexist!" Cody growled at Sokka before going to Katara and whispering into her ear. His friend, meanwhile, wondered what those two were up to, but he supposed that they got an idea when they turned to give Sokka a satisfied leer.

Then Katara glowered at her brother before speaking in a voice of embellished pleasure, "All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!"

As she threw the unfinished pants at her brother, Cody began to laugh, and Totodile couldn't help but join in. When he laughed loudly, Aang and Katara gave him a strange look and he defended himself, "Dudes, I'm sorry, but this is funnier than when Cody locked himself inside his house!"

Cody retorted, "Well, SOMEONE forgot to give me the keys to the house!"

"Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these!" Sokka was whining as he stuck his arm through the big hole in the seat of his pants. "Katara, PLEASE!"

"Sorry, dude, but...say a sexist thing to your sister and that's what you get," Totodile told him smugly.

After the laughter died down (excluding from Sokka, who still looked shocked), Aang finally said, "Don't worry, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't _need_ any pants!"

As the Avatar gave a pull on the reigns and Appa swooped down in the sky, growling, Totodile felt weird about the pants comment. He wasn't wearing pants and he was proud of it.

Besides, he was a Big Jaw Pokémon, and all Pokémon went naked as they pleased. Still feeling dazed about that comment, he let the air chill him as the Sky Bison dove down deeper.

**...**

The seven members of Rescue Team Avatar had landed on the shores of a crescent moon-shaped island with snow-capped mountains in the distance and were staring out into the bay. Totodile really liked islands; they reminded him of the movie Madagascar, and his favorite character on that movie was Marty the zebra.

"Check out the scenery, Cody!" Totodile told his friend as the two Pokémon looked around and saw a Spearow fly by.

Sokka's voice made the blue crocodile-like Pokémon turn around: "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?"

"He's right," Katara added, siding with her older brother. "At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring."

Totodile gasped; that was the season when his best friend had his birthday. As for he himself, he was born in the winter, but his birthday was a few weeks ago before their mission started.

Aang was already shading his face and looking out over the water as he replied, "But Appa's tired already, aren't you, boy?" When Appa didn't reply, Aang nudged him again, saying, "I _said_, aren't you, boy?"

At that, the AirBender nudged Appa conspiratorially with his elbow. Appa just yawned on the count of the signal, but he was clearly not really tired at all. Aang stuck his thumb in the big Sky Bison's direction while Totodile sighed.

"Dude, I don't think he wants to stay here for long," he told the Avatar, going up to him. "I think he still wants to fly!"

"Actually, I'm feeling tired myself," Cody yawned, leaping up on top of Appa and curling up and he began looking out at the water.

Sokka just rolled his eyes and retorted, "Yeah, that was _real_ convincing. Still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster," he added, casting a nervous glance at the Sky Bison.

Suddenly a sharp cry from Aang ("LOOK!") made all four other travelers look at where he was pointing. Splashing around at the surface were fish around the same size of a Lugia, and they had splashes of orange and yellow over their scales. They looked like works of art in fall, although it was already winter.

"What the heck are they?" Totodile asked him.

Aang replied, "An elephant koi!" He stripped down to his undergarments which made Totodile and Cody turn away saying, "Eww! Don't ruin our eyes, man!" and said, "That's why we're here! Katara, you gotta watch me!"

And without any further ado, the Avatar dove into the water. But just a second later, he leaped out of the waves again with a shocked look on his face. "COLD!" he shouted before running on the water now.

_Holy crap! He's running on the water like Jesus! _Totodile mused, also remembering a certain lizard that ran on water. Cody looked mildly interested while Katara and Sokka just looked at each other with wry looks, complete with Sokka twirling his fingers next to his head. Totodile had learned from him that it meant "He's out of his gourd!"

"Totodile! Let's pull out the swimsuit score!" Cody called from on top of Appa. Totodile nodded in agreement and, in just a few minutes, they had scores, which were 8.5 and 9.0, though a local Spearow held up the score of 9.9. After Cody gave it a confused stare, the Tiny Bird Pokémon huffed angrily and fluttered off into the woods.

Meanwhile, Aang was still out there in the bay, suddenly diving underwater. For a split second, Totodile and Cody were afraid that he drowned, but unexpectedly, the AirBender suddenly shot out of the water and holding onto one of the large koi fish. The giant fish leaped out of the water with Aang riding on its back, his hands grasping the dorsal fin. The koi dove back into the water, carrying Aang with it.

Then Totodile turned to see Katara now looking over at the surfing Avatar after getting Cody down from on top of Appa. She had an excited and very attentive look on her face, enjoying his current antics. While the six other travelers watched from the shore, Aang still rode on top of the Elephant Koi, laughing and waving to them.

"Woo!" Katara called, happily waving at him while Cody waved from on top of her shoulder.

"Yeeaaaah! Woohoo!" Aang was laughing, ecstatic as he rode on the giant koi fish. A couple of other giant fish followed from behind, leaping in and out of the water and diving underwater.

Back on the shore, Momo was jumping up and down and watching Aang intently. Meanwhile, Totodile, Cody, and the Spearow pulled out their scores for the synchronized swimming of the elephant Koi. They were all perfect scores.

Katara looked interested as she told Sokka, "He looks pretty good out there."

"Are you kidding?" her brother retorted, not looking impressed. "The fish is doing all the work!"

Suddenly wanting to defend the Avatar, Totodile stomped up to Sokka, leaped onto his shoulder, and gave his head a small punch. "So that's what you think? Well, guess what? You know...you really wanna know why I did that? You're a pessimist! Like Eeyore!"

But before Sokka could say anything else back at him, a sudden snap had been heard from the forest. It seemed that Appa had wandered off for a "small" snack. The others turned their head toward that noise.

"No, Appa! Don't eat that!" Katara scolded the Sky Bison as she hurried off toward that noise.

But when Totodile looked back to watch Aang again, he had turned to see if the young female WaterBender was watching him. But his wide smile faded when he saw her run off into the forest after Appa. Totodile had no choice but to give him a sympathetic shrug.

Aang just lowered his gaze while he muttered, "Aww man..."

Three elephant koi were now joining in swimming on the surface of the water. Two of the koi, including the one Aang was riding on, swerved away to the right. Two shadows under the water were visible approaching the remaining elephant koi.

Totodile felt a rush of dread fill him from his head to the tip of his toes. There was something very awfully big rushing through the water right behind Aang. The energetic Big Jaw Pokémon recognized the shape immediately: that was perhaps a Gyarados, but it seemed to look bigger than any he had ever seen in his life.

"What the heck is that thing?" Cody asked Totodile.

"There's something in the water!" Sokka interjected before gazing out at the water with horror.

He, Cody, and Totodile focused their concentration on the bay, where the Elephant Koi was now trying to leap out of the water, but it was being pulled under. Now something else joined up with the first something in the water, but it was so strange that even Totodile didn't know what it was. Momo was now jumping up and down frantically, screeching in distress.

Cody and Totodile heard footsteps behind them as Katara, who had heard all the commotion, ran up beside her brother to join up with him. Cody leaped onto her shoulder and looked out at the horizon, his fur bristling with fright.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked the three other travelers with Appa behind her.

Sokka turned to her and replied, "Aang's in trouble! Aang!" he yelled out toward him.

Then Katara joined in, screaming for him, "Get out of there!"

And the two Pokémon joined in while Spearow flew off quickly, maybe to find help. Aang was finally looking out at them, but he misread their frantic gestures for happy encouraging gestures.

Cody rolled his gray-blue eyes and shouted, "Get the heck out of there! Just go, go, GO!"

All of a sudden, the koi fish he was riding bucked up and down and sent Aang headlong into the bay. He came up a second after going under and spurted water out of his mouth. He was gasping heavily for air as an enormous serrated fin rose ominously from the water behind him. And what came up beside the fin made Totodile gasp with shock.

There was a Gyarados all right, but this one looked twice the size of a normal Gyarados. And this one looked just like a Shiny Pokémon.

Finally, Aang turned around slowly to see what was following close behind him. His dark gray eyes widened and he screamed in panic. The AirBending Avatar leaped to the surface of the water and began to run to shore on top of the waves.

Gyarados let out a roar of fury, screaming, "HEY, PUNK! GET BACK HERE! WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!"

The enormous fin seemed to realize that Gyarados was roaring at their fleeing prey because it turned around and began to chase him. Right before the two enormous beasts got to him, Aang finally reached the shore, running head first and full force into Sokka. He knocked the Water Tribe warrior off his feet, and they both crashed back towards the tree line. The fin turned and slowly headed back out to sea.

But Gyarados wasn't going to give up without a fight. "I'M NOT FINISHED YET! TAKE THIS! HYDRO PUMP!"

The large Atrocious Pokémon let out a powerful blast of water from his jaws right at the humans, but Cody leaped in front of them. Totodile knew that he wanted to defend the humans right to the death, despite knowing them for only five days.

"Piii...kaaa...CHUUU!" Cody blasted a large Thunderbolt right through the Hydro Pump, hitting the Water/Flying type Pokémon in the chest. Totodile leaped in and used a Water Gun at the red beast's eyes. Gyarados let out a bellow and lurched back into the ocean after the monstrous fin, roaring with rage.

When Gyarados had gone, Katara ran back to where Aang and Sokka were. Aang was putting his clothes back on while Sokka sat slumped up against the tree they skidded into.

"What was that thing?" Katara asked them, her voice shaking from fright.

"I don't know, but I know that the one that just attacked us was a Gyarados. Monk Gyatso had taught us lessons about the Pokémon in the world," Aang told her.

Cody nodded in agreement and Totodile knew what he was thinking about: Team HeartGold, their students. Treecko and Chimchar had sent them a letter, saying that they had to find some Phione Dew to cure a sick baby Pokémon named Manaphy. But a greedy Gyarados had tried to take the Phione Dew all for himself by force, so Treecko and Chimchar had to fight him off to save the Phione.

Sokka was now up and wiping his hands together. "Well, let's not stick around and find out. Time to hit the road."

But before the humans and Pokémon could do anything, four green dressed warriors fell on the travelers from the trees. The first warrior grabbed Sokka under his arms from behind, the second warrior pulled Katara's hood over her head, the third warrior grabbed Aang by his shirt. And the fourth warrior trapped Momo in a small sack.

But as for Cody and Totodile, they had been surrounded by two Roserade, which had used Sleep Powder to knock the two friends out. They had darkness surrounding their vision for now before falling asleep.

As the humans and Pokémon fell to the ground with grunts and thuds, Sokka moaned, "Or we could stay a while..."

**...**

"You five have some explaining to do," a middle-aged male voice growled.

A second voice, a young female voice, added, "And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi."

"Yeah! Explain! And tell us why you hurt that poor Gyarados!" a younger female voice sneered.

In spite of sneering, Totodile couldn't move his arms or legs; he could even feel Cody struggling beside him. He could tell that they were all tied to something tall, but he couldn't tell since he had been blindfolded. Beside him, it smelled like the three humans and Momo were tied up as well.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka was shouting angrily.

"Gladly. Razor Leaf!"

The five travelers' blindfolds were taken off by the Razor Leaf without injuring their eyes. They suddenly found themselves facing an angry middle-aged man with long gray hair, a high poofy ponytail on his head, and a Cyndaquil on his shoulder. Something else that Totodile saw made his jaws drop open: they were surrounded by five teenage girls dressed in green. Their faces were painted white with red around their eyes, and they carried fans in their waistbands.

The female in the middle made Totodile blush and look away; she looked quite pretty with short reddish-brown hair and blue-green eyes. In front of her was a young female Chikorita; she had been surrounded by the same two Roserade that knocked them out. A Kabutops and a Scizor had also joined them.

Now Totodile saw what they were tied to; all five of them were tied to a large pole in a fenced clearing. Momo, still in a sack, was right at Aang's feet.

Sokka shouted angrily, "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

Totodile sighed inwardly. Didn't this guy ever learn?

The female leader of these ninja-like females stepped forward and angrily shook her fist at him. "There were no men. _We_ ambushed you, us and our Pokémon. Now tell us, who are you five and what are you doing here?"

But instead of settling down at that, the Water Tribe warrior just laughed at them with disbelief. "Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down!"

"Dude, SHUT UP!" Cody snapped, but it was too late. The leader of the female ninjas grabbed him by the collar and shook him so angrily that the two Pokémon thought she would take his head off.

"A bunch of girls, huh?" she snapped in a threatening tone. "The unagi's gonna eat well tonight. Chikorita! Sic 'em!"

As the small Grass Type Pokemon stalked angrily forward, her red eyes glittering with ferocity, Katara protested, "No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes."

"A _sexist _idiot!" Chikorita snapped. "You guys need to train him more. He's so stupid, he flunked recess!"

Totodile gnashed his teeth at that comment, but he realized that the small Leaf Pokémon was entirely right. If they were going to live, he felt that Sokka should just go ahead and stop with the sexist comments. First, they had to get out of this trap and off of this island.

But before anything else could go wrong, Aang hung his head and told the chief in an apologetic tone, "It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? And how do we know that your Pokémon aren't Fire Nation?" the chief retorted, pointing an accusing finger at him. He was lined up with the female ninjas and their Pokémon. "Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!"

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" Aang suddenly replied, his face and voice having a mixture of surprise and interest. "I know Kyoshi!"

But the chief didn't believe him as his Cyndaquil snorted out embers in disbelief. Then the chief snapped, "Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

"So look up and see!" Cyndaquil added.

All five travelers did just that and looked up at the statue on top of the pole they were tied to. The statue at the top seemed to be Avatar Kyoshi; she was dressed in the same green garments as the female warriors who caught Aang, Katara, Sokka, Cody, and Totodile. Her face had been painted white and there were two fans in her hands. There was another statue beside her, but this one was an Onix; this was perhaps her Pokémon companion.

Aang looked down toward the ground and back at the island chief. "I know her because I'm the Avatar," he murmured.

What he had just said created a mixture of mixed reactions. The chief had a look of shock and disbelief on his face, the Pokémon looked very amazed. However, the female leader ninja looked rather angry.

She shook her fist angrily at the Avatar and snapped, "That's impossible! The last Avatar was an AirBender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me," Aang said, smiling.

"That's him!" Cody piped up.

Totodile put in, "Very true!"

But the chief still looked angry at the five travelers. He turned to face his female ninjas and their Pokémon and spoke sharply, "Throw the imposter to the unagi and Gyarados!"

As he and Cyndaquil stepped back to watch the scene, the female warriors and their Pokémon (Roserade, Chikorita, Kabutops, and Scizor) assumed a fighting stance. Each warrior had two open fans in her hands, and all eight of them moved menacingly toward the helpless humans and Pokémon. Kabutops and Scizor sharpened their claws on stones to prepare to attack.

"Aang...do some AirBending..." Katara whispered to Aang tersely.

"Yeah! Hurry or we'll be giant eel chow!" Cody whimpered, flailing about.

But Totodile wasn't one to give up on a fight easily; he gave a low threatening warning growl as the Pokémon got nearer. But he couldn't help but flinch when he saw the scythe-like hands of Kabutops and the teeth-like claws of Scizor. The Roserade were prancing forward, waving their rose-ended hands about.

Just before Kabutops could strike first, Aang finally broke his bonds and shot himself into the air. He back-flipped over Kyoshi's statue and floated gracefully down amidst the 'oohs' and 'aahs' of the crowd. The other members of the village and their Pokémon had come to see this sight while the attacking Pokémon stopped and quickly bowed down to him.

"It's true...you _are_ the Avatar!" the chief gasped with shock and recognition on his face.

"The...the Avatar?" Cyndaquil gasped as the Fire Mouse Pokémon leapt down from his owner's shoulder. He bowed to Aang and said, "Forgive us, Avatar! We are the citizens of Kyoshi and this is the chief and my owner, Oyagi! These are our Kyoshi warriors, and Suki is the one who leads them!"

While Totodile bit the ropes off him and started to free Katara, Cody, and Sokka, he turned to see that Aang had a serious look on his face. He wondered what the AirBender was going to do. But then he realized what he was going to do. _Oh God, please don't!_

But it happened.

Aang, who seemed to realize that he had an audience, pulled the marble out from under his shirt. "Now...check _this_ out!" He did the same trick used to impress Katara earlier on top of Appa and grinned like a fool.

Totodile exchanged a smirk with Cody, who murmured, "They're not gonna like it."

To their discontent, the villagers and their Pokémon cheered and jumped for joy. The villager toward the front right suddenly started to scream like a girl and got so excited that he began to foam at the mouth. He fainted and fell forward toward the humans and their Pokémon.

_That was a big-lipped alligator moment._

**...**

"The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" Zuko snapped angrily, getting up from the table.

Absol and Torkoal, who were eating their fish right beside their owners, heard all of the rumors. A girl had told a fisherman and his Octillery, the fisherman and his Octillery had told a merchant and his Lileep, they told a certain man buying a fish, and the man whom was the cook carried that same fish to the Fire Nation ship.

_Fish merchants can be so gossipy, _Absol mused.

While he got up, Zuko snapped, "Absol! Let's go!"

Instantly, the Disaster Pokémon got up and padded over to his owner's side, ready for adventure. Zuko was still out of the room while speaking to Iroh. "Uncle, ready the rhinos and the Rhyhorn. He's not getting away from me this time."

"Are you gonna finish that?" Iroh asked his nephew, pointing to the fish.

That made Zuko stalk back to the table to snatch up the fish and snap, "I was going to save it for later! Let's go, Absol!" Then he walked off again.

Absol felt a bit sorry for Iroh as he sulked, so he took his own dinner (which was another fish) and gave it to the old man. "Here you go, sir. You and Torkoal can split."

"No, thank you, youngster," Torkoal replied, shaking his head. "I'm full already! I think I shall go watch the movie The Wizard of Oz."

"But where's the T.V?"

"Exactly."

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

Cody watched with wonder as he watched two villagers attending to the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. One was painting a fresh coat of color on her face, and the other was scrubbing the dirt from the back. Plus, he could see two Swellow cleaning the dirt off of the statue of Kyoshi's Onix with their wings. It was morning, and there are only a few villagers on the main street, but everything was peaceful and quiet.

Meanwhile, Appa was lying on his side, munching on fresh hay. Two villagers and two Spoink were caring for him. One villager was scrubbing his fur, another was buffing his horns, and the Spoink were massaging his back by bouncing on him. The sky bison grunted happily and was clearly enjoying all the attention.

"Kyoshi statue restoration: twenty thousand silver pieces," he whispered to Totodile.

Totodile commented, "Bison massage: Priceless!"

The two Pokémon laughed happily as they followed Aang, Katara, and Sokka to the large house behind Appa. The five travelers (plus Momo) arrived in front of a long wooden table. The table was covered with eighteen different plates of food. A villager and his Breloom entered the room and placed two plates on the table and exited.

Aang threw his arms up in the air happily and cheered, "All right! Dessert for breakfast!" Then he began stuffing his face and talking with his mouth full, "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!"

"Wow...how can he eat that much like Sokka can?" Totodile murmured to Cody.

"Just be grateful we have food at all," Katara replied before joining Aang for breakfast.

Cody just shrugged and turned around to look at the table. Then... "Holy crap! Totodile, look! A Zebra Cake!"

Totodile looked at it, gave it a double-take, and let out a whoop of happiness. "Woo-hoo! Last one there's a rotten Exeggcute!" At that, the two Pokémon rushed over to the table and began piling some sweets onto their plates. Aang and Katara exchanged amused looks before getting back to their breakfast.

As Cody sunk his sharp Pikachu teeth into a brownie with peanuts, he looked out of the large window. It had already been opened to show the mountain in the background. Also, there were the two villagers and Swellow eagerly redecorating the statue of Avatar Kyoshi and her Onix.

While eating, Cody heard Aang say, "Mmm... Katara you've got to try these!" Cody turned to see the AirBending Avatar offering Katara a sweet. Seeing the confused look on his, Aang told him, "It's a pastry filled with fruit filling."

"Oh," Katara replied at that. "Well, maybe just a bite..." She took the sweet from Aang and took a bite from it.

While Aang was distracted, Momo seized the opportunity to snatch another from his owner's other hand. Totodile smiled as he watched the lemur leap away and eat his food before diving into his cupcake.

But all of a sudden, Aang spoke to a certain person who didn't join, "Sokka, what's your problem? EAT!"

Totodile smirked as Cody looked over at the discontented Water Tribe warrior, who was sitting there in a corner, all hunched up and glaring out of the window. Then Cody saw his friend a look that told him that Sokka was acting like a sore loser. That was all because he had earlier said that he lost to a bunch of girls and their girly Pokémon.

"Not hungry," Sokka muttered.

"But you're _always_ hungry!" Aang protested, looking around Katara's head and looking shocked.

Totodile nodded, gave him a grin, and added, "Yeah, Sokka! When you see food, you eat it like a starving Mamoswine with rabies!" That earned him a glare from the Water Tribe teenager, and he just gave a shrug. "What? I'm just telling the truth!"

"He's right, you know," Cody spoke up.

Sokka glared at him too.

"Don't worry, guys," Katara reassured Aang, Cody, and Totodile. She went on slyly, "He's just upset because a bunch of _girls_ and their 'girly' Pokémon kicked his butt yesterday."

"They snuck up on me!" Sokka shouted, his blue eyes looking haunted.

Katara just smiled at him slyly, adding smugly, "Right. And _then_ they kicked your butt."

Sokka got up angrily and snapped, "Sneak attacks don't count!"

Then he paced around the room, gesticulating wildly to the air, growling, "Tie me up with ropes! I'll show them a thing or two. I'm not scared of any girls." He stormed to the breakfast table and ferociously grabbed sweets off it. He began to lower his voice and talk to himself.

"Who do they think they are anyway?" He grunted and shoved a sweet into his mouth. Then he walked away and out of the room, muttering, "Mmm...this is tasty."

Aang, Katara, Cody, and Totodile looked over at where Sokka had disappeared. _He doesn't know the food pyramid, _Cody mused before Totodile spoke up.

"I gotta go too," the Big Jaw Pokémon said.

"Why?" Aang asked him.

Cody saw that Totodile was blushing when he said, "Suki and her Chikorita asked me if I could practice with them. They said they accept either male or female Pokémon in their training. That Kabutops is the only male fighting Pokémon. Let's hope it's not a scam like that lunch machine I ordered online."

Now Cody felt proud of his friend for being able to practice with the Kyoshi Warriors, but he felt that there was another reason why. The male Pikachu had seen Totodile blush when he had seen Suki with the expression Cody himself used when he met Katara for the first time ever. Totodile seemed to have a crush on the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors.

"Good luck," Katara told him, giving him a high five before Totodile ran out of the room.

When Totodile left, Aang spoke up, "Anyways, what's Sokka so angry about? It's great here. They're giving us the royal treatment!"

"Are you sure?" Cody murmured to himself.

Katara told Aang, "Hey, don't get too comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long."

She had a worried look in her blue eyes, and Cody wondered what she was so worried about. But he knew that she was right. Enemies in disguise could catch them by surprise like fungus on a shower curtain.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town?" At this, Aang and Cody turned around to look out the window at the two villagers and Swellow working on Avatar Kyoshi's statue and Onix's statue. "They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!"

"Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar," Katara told him. Then she rolled her eyes and sighed, "I just hope it doesn't all go to your head."

Cody leaped onto Katara's shoulder and added, "Yeah. We don't wanna see another Squidward blow his head up."

Katara stared at him with confusion. "Who's Squidward?"

"Never mind."

Aang just shrugged as he told Katara and Cody, "Come on, you guys know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk."

"Ten bucks bet you'll break that promise," Cody retorted.

But as the Avatar walked over to the window, he looked out and his face turned to an expression of surprise and confusion. Feeling concerned for his friend, Cody leaped off of Katara's shoulder and joined up with him. Now he saw why: The courtyard was full of little girls from the village, screaming and cheering at him.

Aang's face broke out in a large smile and he blushed. Katara, standing slightly behind him, just crossed her arms, stuck her tongue out, and made a long, exasperated raspberry. Cody, feeling disappointed in the Avatar, rolled his eyes, walked over back to the table, and began eating the sweet Aang had given Katara.

"I'm sure this'll smooth over soon."

**...**

"Or not."

Cody watched crossly as he sat under a red bridge over a little stream. He heard Aang quickly disturb the silence by running back and forth over the bridge while being hotly tailed by the pack of young village girls. The group ended up splitting and coming for him from both sides of the bridge as he stood in the middle. Aang jumped high in the air as the two groups merged together beneath him, waiting for him to come back down.

Cody saw what was taking him so long: he had his arms wrapped around a spinning ball of air. The male Pikachu gave a smirk and gave a loud "BOOM!" The air ball dissipated and Aang fell into the arms of the crowd below.

Breaking the fourth wall, Cody turned to behind him and said, "That was based off of Hard Day's Night with the Beatles. Ask your grandparents." Then he sighed and rolled his eyes as Aang walked away with his fan girls.

**...**

After this "Meet the Beatles" nonsense, Cody (while practicing Iron Tail in the woods) watched Aang standing next to Koko, one of the young girls from the village. An artist (with a Smeargle) put up his paintbrush next to them, ready for painting the scene. He lifted his paper to begin his ink painting, covering the spot where Aang and Koko were standing.

"Painting the Avatar... that's easy enough..." the artist muttered to himself.

Cody snorted with disbelief when he dropped his parchment for another look to see two girls standing with Aang. "Oh... there's another one. I'll make an adjustment here, and..."

Then when he dropped his painting again, there were four girls standing around Aang. "There's more..._what?_"

Now when Cody saw the scene, it appeared that every girl in the village had joined the group. The artist had a mixed look of utter disbelief and irritation. The girls all crowded in close to Aang and laughed while the artist had something of a horrified expression on his face.

After surveying the scene for a few seconds, the artist got up from his stool and walked away, Smeargle following him. The girls collapsed on top of Aang into a laughing pile.

"Another word of advice," Cody spoke to behind him again. "All painters talk to themselves."

**...**

Now Cody (while walking around and waiting for Katara) watched Aang doing push-ups in front of six of the girls, Momo sitting on his back. The girls were staring down at him in very absorbed admiration. Aang began to do one handed push-ups, then he put both hands behind his back and used his breath to push himself up off the ground.

As Cody watched while Aang continued doing his push-ups, he now saw Katara walk past them carrying a basket and rolling her eyes. The male Pikachu didn't have anything to say to the air except saying that it took lung power to exercise before joining up with his female friend.

"Hey, Katara. What's wrong?" Cody asked her, leaping onto her shoulder. He could see that she looked exasperated and he wanted to cheer her up.

Katara gave a sigh and looked around at him, saying, "Nothing. It's just...it's just that I wish that Aang would snap out of this and hurry up so that we could leave! I just feel like cursing up a storm at him!"

Cody patted her hair softly to comfort her (that, and her hair was soft to touch) and told her, "Don't worry. He'll turn around. And it's sometimes okay to curse. Like I did when I was in court."

**...**

"Good Aqua Tail!" Chikorita was praising Totodile as he blocked her Razor Leaf with a hefty Aqua Tail. He had been training hard so that he could show the Kyoshi Warriors (and especially Suki) that he could be as strong as the other Pokémon of Kyoshi Island. That, and he also wanted to beat that Kabutops in battle.

Totodile smiled and replied, "Thanks! Kabutops won't stop me now!" The two Pokémon laughed happily at that comment.

Suddenly, a passing Roserade looked over her shoulder and sneered, "Something sexist, this way comes."

Chikorita and Totodile turned to see Sokka approaching the house surrounded by evergreen trees. He was muttering to himself about "stupid girls", which made Chikorita glare at him. He walked up to the door and looked inside; at that, Totodile and Chikorita slipped past him and went into the room, where the warriors were drilling.

Sokka just grinned, put up his hands, entered the dojo, and said arrogantly, "Sorry ladies! Didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." He stretched his arms and waist as he went on. "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout." He bent over low to the ground and grabbed his knees with his hands.

"Well, you're in the right place," Suki answered as Totodile looked around in the room.

"Wow. This room looks awesome!" he said as he looked into her eyes. "And so is the training!"

Suki smiled warmly at him and said, "Thanks!" To Sokka, who continued to stretch in front of the female warriors, she said sincerely, "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you and your two Pokémon were friends with the Avatar."

"It's all right. I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception," Sokka told her flippantly as he rotated his shoulders around. Totodile rolled his eyes at that comment.

"I should hope so," Suki replied sarcastically. "A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance."

Chikorita stood by her and piped up sarcastically, "Yeah! I'm so scared now!"

Suki and Totodile laughed at the Leaf Pokémon's funny comment. Totodile almost wished he could stay with Suki and Chikorita, but he had to stay with his friends to journey with the Avatar.

Sokka ignored the barbed comment as he finished his stretching. "True. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."

_Yeah, and Swinub fly, _Totodile laughed to himself.

The leader of the Kyoshi warriors leaned in towards Sokka and smiled at him. Totodile felt himself blush at seeing his new friend smile again. "Wow! Best warrior, huh? In your whole village? Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration."

At that, the two Roserade were nodding their head, and Kabutops and Scizor were leering at the Water Tribe teenager with dislike in their eyes. Chikorita was quickly leaping up and down with happiness as if she was waiting for him to mess up. Totodile could tell she was mad at him for calling her "girly."

Then, as Sokka began to stammer, looking shocked at being given a chance to demonstrate, Suki turned to her warriors and the Pokémon. "Come on, girls! Wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?"

Behind Suki, Totodile, and Chikorita, the female warriors giggled and nodded at their leader's suggestion. Meanwhile, all the Pokémon (except for Scizor and Kabutops, who were still glaring at Sokka) nodded quickly again.

Looking proudly assured, Sokka walked over to Suki and told her, "Well, if that's what you want, I'd be happy to. All right, you stand over there."

Then he grasped her shoulders and pushed her back a little, but Suki didn't move. He didn't seem to notice or care, Totodile and Chikorita mused as they smirked at one another. He panted a bit from that, but he stood on the other side of the arena.

"This may be a little tough, but try to block me."

He threw a quick punch at her; Totodile growled at that; he hated hitting females. However, Suki managed to block it with a skillful thrust of her fan to his shoulder. Her stance was disinterested and confident against Sokka's arrogance.

"Heh heh...good," Sokka told Suki, rubbing his shoulder. "Of course, I was going easy on you."

"Yeah, right," Chikorita sneered.

Suki added, "Of course."

"Let's see if you can handle _this!_" Sokka told her, lunging at her.

Totodile was ready to defend Suki if things got bad, but there was no need. She caught him under his leg and tossed him backward toward the door as he landed on his butt. The Pokémon began laughing at his pathetic attempt to beat a female.

Now Sokka looked angry as he shouted, "That does it!" He got up and dove at the female Kyoshi warrior.

Once again, Totodile was ready to defend Suki, but like before, there was no need. Suki grabbed him by the arm and spun him around in circles like a Tauros by the horns. Then she swiftly tied his arm to his foot with his own belt and threw him to the floor.

"He's the star of his own rodeo!" Chikorita laughed to Totodile, who joined her. Then she asked him, "Should we give out the scores?"

"Here's my score: zero," Totodile replied before the two Pokémon laughed at Sokka.

As she towered over Sokka and laughing, Suki sneered, "Anything else you want to teach us?"

Sokka's face just flushed in humiliation as all the warriors and Pokémon laughed at him. Even the moody-looking Scizor and Kabutops joined in with the laughter. Scizor whispered to the Shellfish Pokémon and the two ended up on the floor, laughing their hearts out.

Totodile leaned in to Sokka and said with little pity, "I'm sorry, but you deserved that."

**...**

As Cody padded through the village while carrying a fish over his shoulders, he heard giggling and he gave a weary sigh. The male Pikachu knew what was going on since those girls were always near him while with Aang. He glanced around quickly to see the Avatar standing before the statues of Kyoshi and Onix with the horde of little girls around him as they stared up at them.

_Good God Almighty, doesn't he EVER get tired of the attention?_

"There she is, girls," Aang was telling them. "Me in a past life."

All the girls let out gasps of "Ooohhh" with Momo sleeping in a girl's arms before Koko replied, "You were pretty!"

_Yeah right, _Cody sneered silently. He was getting very sick of him always wanting too much attention. So he shouted, "Yo, Aang! Katara wants a word with you!"

He twitched his ears over to the female WaterBender, who was at the market and filling a basket with vegetables. He joined her and leaped onto her shoulder; she greeted him with a smile and rubbed her free hand gently against his red cheek.

Hearing Cody, Aang told the girls, "Excuse me for a second, ladies..."

He ran over to the market where Cody and Katara were at and tapped the Water Tribe girl on the shoulder. Katara finally turned around and noticed him standing there; to Cody, she looked relieved.

"Oh, good!" she sighed with relief. "Can you help me and Cody carry this back to the room? It's a little heavy."

"Actually, I can't right now," Aang confessed.

"WHAT?" Cody yowled.

Katara stared at Aang irritably as she asked, "What do you mean you can't?"

Aang looked around quickly before happily telling Katara and Cody, "I promised the girls that I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun!"

Katara gave a huff of irritation at the AirBending monk and turned around away from him, continuing to put vegetables into the basket. "Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does _not_ sound like fun."

Cody piped up, "Yeah! You're not the only one who comes up with bad jokes!"

"Well, neither does carrying your basket," Aang retorted to Katara, looking a tiny bit hurt.

"It's not my basket," Katara retorted back, turning to face him. "These supplies are for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon."

Cody looked up at the two humans and nodded at her in agreement. In return, she gave him a pat on the head with one hand while putting some more vegetables into the basket with her other hand. The male Pikachu leaped up onto her shoulder and started pointing out some vegetables she missed by accident.

But Aang's reaction made him think of Caterpie of Pokémon Square. Instead of agreeing with Katara, the Avatar just whined, "I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place."

Cody scoffed, "Like what? The little girls?"

Just like being called like hunting hound dogs, the girls had come over and giggled. Cody wished he could give them a jolt with his Thunderbolt, but he exiled the thought from his mind at once. He could get in trouble for attacking children, and he didn't want to get thrown to the Unagi and the red Gyarados.

Koko was in the lead, stomping her foot in annoyance and putting her hands on her hips. "What's taking you so long, Aangy?"

"Aangy..." Katara repeated flatly.

"And what the bull freakin' heck does THAT mean?" Cody growled, his yellow fur bristling.

Aang didn't listen at first; instead, he turned around to call to the gaggle of girls, "Just a second, Koko!" before turning back to his friends. That aggressive thought quickly came back to Cody's mind.

As the autistic Pikachu was getting rid of that rough thought, Katara was telling Aang heatedly, "'Simple monk,' huh? I thought you promised me that this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head."

"It didn't," Aang argued.

"Yeah right," Cody replied, giving him a hard stare. "I saw the way you were looking down at those girls. Hoping they'd give you a kiss, did you?"

"No!" Aang snapped defensively. Then he took the chance to add, "You know what I think? You and Cody just don't want to come because you're both _jealous_."

"_Jealous?_" Katara repeated, looking rather surprised. "Of what?"

The AirBending Avatar went on, "Jealous that we're having so much fun without you two."

Cody couldn't believe Aang would ever think of such a pointless idea. He was being hypocritical since he was the one to have fun without him and Katara. Now he was beginning to wonder what Whiscash was thinking of by not telling him that the Avatar would behave like this. He was now acting like a spoiled child.

Katara turned away again and was fiercely putting vegetables in her basket. "That's ridiculous," she snapped.

"She's right!" Cody spoke up at him angrily. "It IS ridiculous! And careful with those vegetables! You could squish them!" he added to Katara, but however, she wasn't really listening to him.

"It _is_ a little ridiculous to you, but _I_ understand," Aang retorted back heatedly.

Katara glared angrily at Aang as they stood framed by the vegetable stand. Cody stepped away from them, not wanting to get in the middle of this argument; he hated arguments. Then, she groaned loudly, picked up the basket, and walked away from him with her nose in the air.

Cody gave a glare at Aang before following her and leaping onto her shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to watch Aang watching them go as the giggling girls dragged him away in the other direction. After that, he face-palmed himself with his paw and gave a sigh.

_Why did Whiscash and Alakazam make us go with a careless Avatar?_

**...**

Totodile and Kabutops were in the center of the Kyoshi training dojo arena, showing off their strength. Kabutops had taken a swipe at him with his Slash attack, but Totodile reflected it with his Ice Punch. The scythe froze, and Kabutops could barely get free. Then he broke the ice onto the ground and gave the Big Jaw Pokémon a new respectful glance.

"You know what, shrimp?" he said in a Larry the Cable Guy-like voice. "You did well for a short Pokémon! Dadgum! Even I can't keep up with ya!"

"Thanks!" Totodile shook the Shellfish's scythe with his hand, happy that their short feud was done.

Suddenly, Chikorita rushed around, shouting, "The sexist pig is back!" The Kyoshi warriors and their Pokémon stopped training and looked up. Sokka had come back into the dojo, looking oddly humble and ashamed.

Then the Water Tribe teenager murmured hesitantly, "Uh...hey, Suki. Hey, Chikorita."

Suki looked at him with a sneer as she mocked him, "Hoping for another dance lesson?"

"Yeah!" Chikorita piped up. "Or are you back for another heiny-whooping?"

Totodile whispered to his new friend, noticing Sokka look more upset, "Um...Chikorita...I think you should stop that." When she glared at him, he pointed to his human friend and she fell silent, looking ashamed.

"No... I...well, let me explain," Sokka was saying, talking to Suki more than to Chikorita.

"Spit it out!" Suki replied sharply with impatience. "What do you want?"

Then Sokka did something that Totodile and the dojo Pokémon gasp: he was kneeling in front of the Kyoshi warrior. Totodile was sure that he wouldn't bow to a girl, especially one that beat him twice, but this was entirely new to him.

Then Sokka, kneeling in meekness, spoke up with humility in his voice, "I would be honored if you would teach me."

Suki raised her eyebrow. "Even if I'm a girl? And even if our Pokémon are females? Except for Kabutops, anyways."

"Hey!" Kabutops snapped.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you and your Pokémon earlier," Sokka told her, looking up to look her in the eyes with humiliation. "I was wrong. Totodile and Cody were right."

"We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys," Suki told him, her scorn fading away. Then, glancing over her shoulder at the glowering Kabutops, she turned back and added, "But we also train our female Pokémon on how to fight. But sometimes, we train male Pokémon, especially Kabutops and your Totodile."

Sokka bowed down quickly again and answered, "Please make an exception. I won't let you down." Then he gave the female Kyoshi warrior an anxious look that meant, _I promise. _

Now Totodile felt bad for Sokka. He didn't want to hurt him at all; he just wanted to teach him a lesson. But it seemed as if Suki had already taught him a lesson. Chikorita's crimson eyes were filled with tears of shame and joy at seeing a male human join them for. Instead of giving him a look of contempt, the two Pokémon gave him looks of pity and encouragement.

At first, Suki had a look of doubt in her blue-green eyes as she thought over her rival's offer. The other Kyoshi warriors and their Pokémon were also nodding their approval with new respect. Then, to Totodile's relief, she answered:

"All right. But you have to follow all of our traditions."

"Of course!" Sokka said quickly.

Then Suki had a teasing smile on her face as she added, "And I mean ALL of them."

Totodile and Chikorita exchanged amused looks while the other Pokémon laughed at that, with Kabutops looking amused now. Totodile turned to the female Kyoshi islander and said, "Do you know what we're gonna do with him?"

"Yeah. But just wait."

True to her word, in just a few minutes, Suki had prepared to give Sokka his very own training uniform. What Totodile saw next made him hold back a laugh. He was already in the full green dress and white face paint of the fan warriors. Even Totodile was in the same uniform, but he didn't mind; instead, he felt good in it.

But Sokka didn't look too comfortable in his new uniform; instead he looked embarrassed in it. But the Pokémon weren't laughing at him. Then he said, "Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little... girly."

Suki just exchanged an amused look with Chikorita, who just giggled with pleasure, and said seriously, "It's a warrior's uniform. You and Totodile should be proud of those uniforms. The silk threads symbolize the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignias represent the honor of the warrior's heart."

"_I_ feel good in it!" Totodile told her, leaping on Sokka's shoulder to puff out his chest. He had normally leaped onto his shoulders to hit him lightly, but now he did this to make his human friend feel confident.

"Bravery and honor..." Sokka sighed, standing up proudly and smiling at Totodile.

But to Totodile's displeasure, Aang was just walking by the door to the dojo. He turned around and ducked his head in, smiling mischievously. Totodile didn't know what was with the Avatar recently; he was acting as if he was the king of the island.

"Hey, Sokka and Totodile!" he called out, giggling and walking off. "Nice dresses!"

Totodile gave Aang a glare as he leaped off of Sokka's shoulder and ran outside to growl at him, but the Avatar was already walking off. He was joined up with the two humans and Chikorita as they stood in front of the doorway. Sokka's momentary pride was visibly crushed by Aang's barb, Totodile felt angry, and Suki and Chikorita were smiling at him with amused looks.

**...**

Cody watched as Katara sat a bowl of water down on the floor, for she was fixing to practice her WaterBending. He began blush-sparking again when he saw her take off her heavy Water Tribe coat to reveal her slender body with lighter clothes on. But when he saw her looking at him with curiosity, he looked away.

"Anything wrong, Cody?"

"Uh...no. Nothing."

As she sat down and began practicing while Cody laid down in her lap, Aang entered the room and stood cockily in the doorway. Meanwhile, a plume of water was rising and falling from the small bowl in front of Katara.

Cody hissed at Aang, "Don't you have someone else to annoy? Friends? Family? ...poisonous reptiles?"

But Aang didn't listen; instead, he turned to Katara and asked her, "Katara, remember how the Unagi and Gyarados almost got me yesterday?"

"Yeah," she replied, not looking up from her bowl. Cody continued glaring at Aang.

"Well, I'm gonna go ride them now," Aang told them. "It's gonna be REAL dangerous."

He had a rather daring look on his face, but Cody felt alarmed now. How could he think of going into the bay and ride those monsters after what they almost did to him? Did he learn nothing from when he was almost eaten?

To add more to his horror, Katara still didn't look up from her bowl as she said, "Good for you."

Aang looked surprised. "You're not gonna stop me?"

"Nope. Have fun," Katara said, still not looking up. Cody tapped her on the shoulder to try and warn her, but she ignored him.

"I will!" Aang retorted, crossing his arms peevishly.

"Great."

"I know it's great."

"I'm glad you know."

"I'm glad you're glad."

"Good!"

"Fine!"

Aang turned around to storm angrily out of the room. He paused at the door and turned his head back to look at Katara and Cody. Katara was still intent on her WaterBending and didn't look up at him while Cody gave him a look of shock. His face fell and he walked out the door.

Just as he was gone, Cody took the chance to tap her on the shoulder. Finally, Katara looked down at him and asked him, "What is it, Cody?"

"You DO know that your friend's gonna get eaten?" Cody asked icily. "He is the last AirBender, after all."

"I don't know..." As if Cody had said something sensible, Katara let the water fall back into the bowl, crossed her arms, and looked at the door through which Aang had just exited.

Cody hoped that she was feeling ashamed of not looking up at Aang. Now he realized that if she paid attention to him more, none of this would be happening.

**...**

Meanwhile, back at the dojo, Suki and Sokka were now circling each other with fans unfurled in their practicing stances. Totodile, Chikorita, and the warriors and their Pokémon were watching them with amusement.

"You're not going to master it in one day," Suki was telling her training partner. "Even _I'm_ not that good."

Totodile watched as Sokka nodded, but then he began losing his balance on his fighting stance. But he sounded confident as he cheered, "I think I'm starting to get it!"

Then Totodile and Chikorita gobbled down some shared Skittles as Sokka continued to practice the moves, and at the end of the set, he accidentally threw his fan out the door and into an oak tree. Suki looked out the door at the lost fan as snow fell from the branches above to bury it. Chikorita giggled a little when she joined up with her master; Totodile did the same thing.

"It's not about strength," Suki told Sokka as she turned around and walked up to him.

Totodile thought, _That's right, kids. Weaklings can fight too, _just as Suki began to say, "Here, our technique is about using your opponents' force against them. Loosen up. Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." She assumed a battle stance and said, "Wait for an opening and then..."

Then the female Kyoshi warrior lunged quickly at Sokka and he sidestepped the thrust, knocking her off her feet. She showed her surprise and embarrassment as she looked up from her spot on the floor. The Water Tribe teenager had his arms crossed, gave a grunt of satisfaction, and a look that said _So there!_

"He's good, but he's got a bit to go at humiliation," Chikorita whispered to Totodile, who just nodded.

Meanwhile, Suki got to her feet, looking flustered and glaring at Sokka. "I fell on purpose to make you _feel_ better!"

"Hahaha! I got you! Admit I got you!" Sokka laughed, pointing his finger at her.

To Totodile's amusement, Suki laughed as she grabbed Sokka's extended finger and bent it back painfully. Chikorita stepped forward and bit his foot while Totodile walked right over and did the same to the other foot. But he was careful to not make him bleed, or Katara would ask him a lot of questions.

"Okay, it was a lucky shot. Let's see if you can do it again," Suki told Sokka as she let go of him. "Chikorita and Totodile, let him go."

The two Pokémon obeyed and stepped back to watch the two humans. Recovering from his bent finger, Sokka got back into his battle stance, he and Suki circling around each other again.

**...**

"So you're gonna watch Aang?" Cody asked Katara as they both walked together to the bay. He was happy that his friend was going to watch the Avatar, although at first, he didn't really want to watch. Cody still couldn't stand Aang's new arrogant attitude.

Katara looked down at him and said, "I'm just making sure he's okay. He's my friend, like you said back there."

Cody rubbed the back of his head and replied, "Yeah, well...I was angry, that's all."

After that, they walked on in silence until they reached the beach. As he leaped onto Katara's shoulder to get a good scouting position, he could see Aang in the middle of the bay looking towards shore at his fan club. On closer inspection, all of the little girls sitting on shore appeared to be very bored.

Then Cody whispered into Katara's ear, "To him, the ocean is nature's latrine. And kids have such short attention spans."

"Don't you like kids?" Katara asked him with a pretend hurt voice. "What'll happen if I have kids of my own one day?"

"Then I'll have to reconsider my current thoughts," Cody told her, smiling.

Meanwhile, Koko, one of the little girls in the village, was calling impatiently to Aang, "What's taking so long?"

"I'm sure it will be here any second!" Aang called back, looking worried as he looked down at the water. "What about this?" At this, he desperately began suspending and spinning the marble between his two hands.

"Not that again," a little girl complained. "_Boring._"

"Where are the Unagi and Gyarados?" Koko called out. "It's getting late."

Then the girls got up and started to leave. At first, Cody and Katara were happy that they were leaving his fan club, but they felt bad for him. He didn't deserve to be left behind like that...even though Cody felt that Aang deserved it for being a jerk.

Aang turned around to see his fan club leave and called, "Where're you going? Don't leave!"

Koko just called out, "Sorry, Aang! Maybe next time!"

Then all of the girls finally left the beach just when Katara and Cody arrived at where they stood. Cody glared after the girls, thinking, _I'm glad those little brats are out of the way! _Unlike Katara, who had patience with little kids, Cody didn't put up with them at all. But he had sneered a bit too much, for Katara gave him a warning stare, and he pulled on a straight face.

When the male Pikachu looked out over the water, he could see Aang waving over to his friends. He looked very excited to see them again.

"Katara! Cody! You both came!" he cheered, smiling widely.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe. You really had me worried," Katara told him.

Cody leaped down from the female WaterBender's shoulder and said, "Yeah. I was gonna make sure you don't do something stupid. You know, something like Totodile does when he drinks too much caffeine."

Aang had confusion on his face as he told Katara, "Back there, you acted as if you didn't care. You and Cody."

Katara lowered her eyes as she murmured, "I'm sorry."

"Me too," the Avatar replied to her, looking apologetic. "Katara, you're right; I did let all that attention go to my head. And Cody, you were right, too; I am a promise-breaker. I was being a jerk."

"Yeah, well, everyone's a jerk!" Cody told him. "You-" he pointed at Aang "you-" he pointed at Katara "me-" he pointed to himself, then dragged a random Spearow to his side, "this jerk...that's my philosophy! Well, that's Totodile's, anyway."

Katara nodded and called to Aang, "He's right, Aang. Everyone can act like jerks sometimes." Then she called out affectionately to him, "Well, get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!"

Aang grinned widely and began swimming toward shore, calling, "On my way!"

But suddenly, to Cody and Katara's horror as Aang swam towards land, the Unagi came up behind him and caught him in its wake. As the Unagi rose from the water, the Avatar was kneeling on a portion of its tail in fright. Beside the giant monster, the red Shiny Gyarados rose from the water and gave a roar of triumph before glaring at Aang.

"SO YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE FROM US?" the Atrocious Pokémon roared at him. "WELL, YOU WON'T ESCAPE FROM US THIS TIME!" To the Unagi, it roared, "LET'S GET HIM!"

Katara gasped in horror, her bright blue eyes following Aang as he kneeled in front of the two monsters, while Cody bristled beside her. What could they do? Aang was going to get himself into danger after all!

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

To Cody and Katara's horror, the Unagi raised its head and discharged a powerful jet of water directly at Aang. He leaped up and grabbed hold of one of the Unagi's whiskers in terror. The unagi shook its head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge Aang while the red Gyarados was watching with savage satisfaction. Cody could see saliva drip from the Unagi's sharp teeth and it drenched its lips with its tongue.

"Hang on, Aang!" Katara called out from beside the male Pikachu.

Cody added, "Yeah! We're coming after ya!"

As he and Katara leaped into the water, Cody could feel the coldness nip at his pelt sharper than a bite. While they swam on, he saw the Unagi continue to shake its head, and Aang was thrown into the water. He was unconscious as he floated back to the surface. Gyarados was snickering with triumph.

"GOOD JOB! LET'S GET HIM!" the Atrocious Pokémon roared.

Before the Unagi and Gyarados got to the passed out Avatar, Katara and Cody quickly swam hard to save their friend; now both teams were racing for him, one for friendship and one for food. Katara and Cody reached Aang first and Katara took him into her arms just as the Unagi raised itself from the water. She pushed the water forcefully in front of her and propelled both herself and Aang away from the unagi.

But she suddenly slammed into the belly of the rearing Gyarados, who roared, "HOW DARE YOU STEAL OUR FOOD, LITTLE PEST! NOW YOU'LL PAY!""

"Katara, do you have a WaterBending move that'll let you jump out of the water?" Cody asked her quickly. When the WaterBender nodded, Cody gave her a nod and, as the Gyarados slammed its tail down toward them, she quickly used some WaterBending to lift herself into the air. Now she and the unconscious Aang were flying over the head of the angry Gyarados.

But when the red-colored Pokémon lunged for them, Cody leaped onto it and let out a screech of "Piii...kaaa...CHU!" At that, electricity shot out of his red cheeks and zapped the Gyarados all over its body. Gyarados let out a roar of pain and turned onto the male Pikachu, firing a Hydro Pump that was dodged by him and hitting its body instead. But it was thanks to the Unagi's rage that made him go underneath the waves.

Finally, the Unagi dove into the water and the force of its dive sent Cody, Aang, and Katara flying into a small cavern. Angrily, the unagi shot water from its mouth and eventually sunk back into the bay. Gyarados let out one more roar of anger and glared at the travelers before following the Unagi.

Cody collapsed by Katara's side and panted, "That...was close..."

"Yeah." Katara peered over the side of the opening and gasped with horror.

Cody didn't know what was going on, so he pushed himself to his paws and leaped onto the boulder to see. Katara quickly scooped him up into her arms to make him get down and he could see what was coming. There seemed to be a large black ship approaching the island.

"Zuko!" Katara rasped.

"You mean the scarred FireBender you were telling me about?" Cody asked her.

Katara nodded.

Cody did a double-take at her and quickly slapped himself across the cheek as if he was going to wake himself up. He had heard of the FireBender who nearly took Aang as his prisoner and took him away to Fire Lord Ozai. Cody had also heard that he had a fat gentle-looking uncle.

Suddenly, he heard something crash, and he looked over the rock to see the prow being let down. A young man at around sixteen years of age had come out of the ship while riding a large rhino-like animal that looked rather like a Triceratops. He had black hair underneath his helmet and he had sharp golden eyes, but it was the burn scar on his left eye that made Cody gasp.

"Oh my God!" Cody gasped. "What happened to him?"

Katara shrugged and went back to Aang, saying, "I don't know."

Meanwhile, Prince Zuko was on board of his animal while being escorted by many men on their rhino mounts. "I want the Avatar alive," the Prince told them and a group of Rhyhorn.

An Absol padded up to the FireBender, leaped up to sit behind him, and let out a growl for the soldiers to move out. They began marching towards where the village was at, to their horror. They had to hurry and get there, but first, they had to wake Aang up.

Back from behind Cody, Katara already hid Aang in the cave as Zuko and his small army of FireBenders and Pokemon march towards Kyoshi. Aang was still unconscious.

"Wake up, Aang!" Katara pleaded with him.

"Yeah! Or we'll use other needs!" Cody added, dragging a Krabby to their side. But the Krabby snapped his lightning-shaped tail with its claw, making him let it go. He had to grab a bag so that he could scream into it.

Looking back, he saw Katara moved her hands up Aang's lean chest and drew the water out of his lungs. While Cody looked on with amazement and relief, the Avatar began to cough and sputter. _Thank you, Great God Almighty!_

"Katara...Cody..." Aang rasped weakly. "...don't ride the Unagi or Gyarados...not fun..."

Katara smiled with relief and hugged him while Cody happily began to hand out water bottles to them to help them rehydrate. He knew they had to go against this Zuko guy and his FireBenders really soon, but he wondered how Totodile and the other training Pokémon would handle it. And besides, they had to let Aang catch his breath before going back to town.

**...**

Back at the training dojo, Totodile and Chikorita looked from side to side as Sokka and Suki continued to spar. Totodile knew that he had started to dislike Sokka again when the Water Tribe teenager unjustly banished Aang from the village just because of an accident. Because of that, Totodile had treated him the same way. But after seeing him train hard without a sassy retort, his respect for him once again grew.

After Sokka used one more arm thrust, he and Suki stopped their friendly spar. "Not bad," the Kyoshi Island warrior praised him happily.

"Yeah!" Chikorita added, running over to Sokka and nudging him happily on the leg. "You're doing better than the phone prank Totodile and I did a minute ago!"

But right before Suki could ask them what that was, the doors of the dojo opened up and Oyagi was standing there, panting and looking frightened. His Cyndaquil was on top of his shoulder and gulping with fright.

With a deep breath, the small Fire Type Pokémon rushed right over to Totodile and Chikorita, squealing, "You guys gotta help the villagers! Fire people and their Pokémon are attacking!"

While Totodile and Chikorita nodded, Cyndaquil sighed with relief and the three Johto Starter Pokémon gave each other high-fives. Then Oyagi called Cyndaquil back before turning to his Kyoshi warriors.

"FireBenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly! And bring your Pokémon along!"

"Hey, I'm not a-" Sokka began to protest. But Totodile gave him a nudge which made him say, "Oh, never mind."

After a few minutes of preparation, the fighters managed to get over to the town, where Totodile saw a young teenager on top of a Triceratops-like animal with an Absol sitting behind him. The scar on his face made him gasp, but he controlled himself in time. At once, the humans and Pokémon leaped onto the roofs to get a better look at this FireBender and his small defense force. Totodile recognized him as Zuko, a FireBender that Sokka told him about.

"Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko called out angrily. To his men, he snapped, "Find him."

"Yes, Zuko," Absol replied before leaping down and sniffing the area. Meanwhile, Zuko's army began to search the town for Aang with their Pokémon following them.

Suddenly, Suki gave a signal to one of her followers, and that person and her Scizor leaped down quickly. When Absol whirled around to call a warning, Scizor charged forward toward him with its claw glowing white; just when Zuko turned around, the Bug/Steel Type Pokémon had already landed a Metal Claw onto the Disaster Pokémon. Right away, the other Kyoshi warriors and their Pokémon leaped down and began to attack Zuko's army and their Pokémon.

Suki headed directly for Zuko while Chikorita threw a Razor Leaf at Absol, whose muzzle was bleeding. As Suki was about to land and attack, he turned his rhino, and she was swatted out of the air by its tail. At that, Chikorita rushed forward with a Tackle, but she was rebounded by Absol's Dark Pulse. As her owner hit the ground, Zuko aimed a large fire blast at her and the Leaf Pokémon.

Totodile and Sokka stepped in between Suki, Chikorita, and the fire ball, deflecting it with the machete and an Aqua Tail. Zuko, taken by surprise, fell off his rhinoceros while Absol threw a Dark Pulse at Totodile, only to have it launched back at him along with a Water Gun attack. When a Rhyhorn tried to charge at Totodile with a Take Down, Sokka tossed his boomerang at it and it landed with a bang on its head, making the Horn Pokémon fall comatose to the ground.

"I guess training's over," Sokka commented.

Totodile gave him a warm smile and replied, "Yeah! Class dismissed indeed!"

Suki, Sokka, and another warrior cautiously approached the prone Zuko; meanwhile, Totodile, Chikorita, and a Roserade surrounded Absol. Suddenly, to their horror, Zuko started to spin around on his hands, shooting fire bolts out of his feet at the approaching warriors. Absol also got up and unleashed a Flamethrower which knocked out the two Roserade and Scizor. Zuko knocked them all to the ground and pulled himself to his feet. Then he leaped to the middle of the street with Absol sneering.

"Nice try, Avatar!" Zuko called out tauntingly. ""But these little girls can't save you!"

"Hey! Over here!"

Zuko turned around, his eyes widening with shock before sneering with triumph. "Finally!"

Totodile sat upright to see Aang and Cody standing in the middle of the street a few feet away from them. He felt happy that they were back from whatever they were doing. But dread also flowed through him; what if Zuko won and caught Aang right there while killing Cody?

Cody, meanwhile was saying, "And that wasn't right, Zuko. _Little girls _can do anything they put their minds to."

Holding back his laughter, Totodile began to watch the match as Zuko and Aang faced each other in a "High Noon" style.

**...**

Zuko let loose three repeated fire balls from his hands while Aang dodged them and, using his staff as a helicopter, flew toward Zuko. The Prince shot another blast of fire, which knocked Aang's staff out of his hands. The Avatar leaped away and picked up two discarded fans. Zuko ran with full force at Aang, but the AirBender used the fans to throw an enormous gust of air at Zuko. The air knocked him through the wall of a building.

Meanwhile, Cody leaped at Absol, growling with power in his eyes. The Disaster Pokémon moved to one side, but Cody slammed an Iron Tail down onto his back as he tried to leap away. The male Pikachu hurled a Thunderbolt at him while turning around while Absol threw a Dark Pulse at him in return. When the two attacks hit, a cloud of dust erupted from where they crashed into each other. The dust cleared and Absol shot through the dust, slashing Cody across his leg with a Shadow Claw. But he got affected by Cody's Static ability, making him vulnerable and letting Cody rout him with another Thunderbolt.

"Ha...we won this round..." Cody panted, blood dripping from his leg.

Cody limped over to Aang, his hind leg bleeding freely, and managed to get onto his back before the Avatar threw his staff into the air got onto it. They flew over the now burning town, shocked at all the damaged Zuko had caused. He and Cody looked behind them to see the statue of Avatar Kyoshi engulfed in flames; Cody could see pure guilt flash in Aang's eyes and he felt sorry for him now...but now wasn't the right time to say it.

A few minutes later, the two of them landed right near a building next to Katara and Oyagi's Cyndaquil. Those two were helping the children get safe inside.

Cyndaquil was murmuring to a little girl, "Don't worry! Those bad FireBenders will go away!"

"He's right, little one," Katara added. "Now get inside."

The little child nodded and went inside the building.

As soon as Aang landed next to them, Cody fell down from his perch and started licking at his wounded leg. The cut he got from Absol's Shadow Claw was long, but it wasn't deep.

"Look what I brought to this place," Aang groaned, looking upset.

"Aang, it wasn't your fault," Katara tried to comfort him.

_All his fault, _Cody thought as he looked up from licking the blood from his wound. He wanted to tell Aang that, but with him looking guilty, he decided not to. He felt that he learned his lesson.

The AirBender griped, "Yes, it is. These people and their Pokémon just got their town destroyed trying to protect me."

Katara gave him a reassuring nod as she picked Cody up in her arms. "Then let's get out of here. Zuko and his Absol will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way."

Cody gave them a nod while clinging onto the female WaterBender's coat and snuggling against her chest. He knew that this was true, but they had to also find a way to get over to the Northern Water Tribe intact, their destination where Aang would learn the next element: water.

_Alakazam told us so_, he reminded himself. The male Pikachu remembered the Psi Pokémon telling him and Totodile that the Avatar couldn't escape from his destiny.

"I'll call Appa," Aang murmured, hanging his head.

Cody looked over at him and told him kindly, "I think it's for the best. I'll help you out."

**...**

Totodile and Chikorita winced at a Rhyhorn bit Roserade on the arm before getting affected by the Poison Point ability; this let the Rose Pokémon to launch an Energy Ball at it. Rhyhorn let out a roar of pain as the green ball hit its side and fell to the ground, knocked out. They also saw Kabutops fighting another Rhyhorn, slashing with a Metal Claw. Meanwhile, Kabutops' owner threw her fan at a FireBender's face mask and knocked him out.

Then they turned back to Sokka and Suki, the latter pulling Sokka with her behind a crate, their Pokémon following them. "There's no time for a goodbye!" the Kyoshi warrior was telling him.

Totodile looked over at Chikorita, who gave him a sad nod as she said, "You guys gotta leave. We'll handle these stupid FireBenders off."

He gave her a nod and a high-five, saying, "Do your best, Chikorita!"

"What about 'I'm sorry'?" Sokka was telling Suki. When she gave him a confused look, he went on with shame, "I treated you like a girl when I should have treated you like a warrior. And I've done the same to your Pokémon, and I'm sorry for that too."

To Totodile's mild jealousy, Suki began leaning towards Sokka, telling him, "I am a warrior. And so are our Pokémon." Then she kissed him on the cheek, murmuring, "But I'm a girl, too. And so is Chikorita."

Then Sokka touched his hand to his cheek, eyes wide with shock, and blushed as she finished, "Now get out of here! We'll hold them off."

Totodile gave a sigh of defeat; it looked like Suki didn't like him like Cody liked Katara. But now he didn't mind; he doubted that she felt the same way about him anyways. Chikorita gave him a hug of good-luck before he followed Sokka over to Appa, where Aang, Katara, Momo, and Cody were waiting.

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang called out.

Appa growled and lifted himself into the sky, finally leaving the town. But Totodile gave a growl of anger when he saw Zuko watching them leave.

He got back onto his war rhino and shouted, "Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!"

Then Totodile saw Absol glare up at Team Avatar with a kind of glance that a rival would give to his opponent. The Disaster Pokémon suddenly nodded to them before following Zuko, and Totodile gave a nod back. He hoped that they get to battle each other again one day.

**...**

Back on Appa flying away from the town, the Water Tribe siblings sat in the saddle on Appa's back while Cody rested his head on Katara's knee; Totodile just gazed out across the ocean. Aang was sitting behind Appa's head with the reins in his hands. His head was hanging down, showing that he was clearly upset. Katara leaned forward to speak to him with Cody joining in.

"I know it's hard, but you did the right thing," she told the Avatar. "Zuko and Absol would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang."

"Yeah," Cody said. "You've done a better job than cavemen taming dogs."

But to everyone's surprise, without another word to either one of them, Aang suddenly dove off of Appa's head into the bay. There was a determined expression on his face.

"_What are you doing?_" Katara screamed after him as he dove off.

Totodile joined up with her, leaned over, and said, "I don't know...but I believe this..."

Katara and Sokka watched in horror while Cody and Totodile watched with wonder as Aang vanished under the water. Several seconds went by before the Unagi burst out of under the water, Aang riding it with Gyarados beside them.

The shiny Atrocious Pokémon was roaring, "FIRE NATION WAS HERE? LET ME AT 'EM!"

Aang got hold of both whiskers and forced the Unagi's head towards the burning town of Kyoshi. The Avatar pulled back on the whiskers and the Unagi spewed water over the town. The stream continued long enough to put out the fires Zuko and his army had begun. Gyarados let out a roar as it launched a Hydro pump at a certain area and they saw what he aimed at: Zuko and his army.

Cody could see the Fire Nation Prince and his army were standing there and staring after them. Zuko and Absol looked unhappy, Absol spitting out a fish that ended up in his mouth. The other soldiers were soaking wet, and the Rhyhorn were wailing and crying for their mothers.

_Wimps, _Cody sneered silently.

"When in doubt," Totodile told everyone, "find the Unagi and grab it by the whiskers!"

Meanwhile, Oyagi was looking out the window and murmuring gratefully, "Thank you, Avatar." Cyndaquil was hopping up and down, cheering, "Come back soon!"

Cody could see that Kyoshi was out of danger, and Aang let go of the Unagi's whiskers. The giant sea monster reared its head, and Aang jumped into the air just as Appa swooped down. Gyarados didn't even attack when the Sky Bison caught Aang in his front paws and flew off.

As soon as Aang climbed on board, he began speaking to Katara, "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous." He was clearly expecting a scolding from her.

"Yeah, it was. Stupid, risky, and random like a retarded rooster," Totodile whispered to Cody.

But Katara didn't yell at Aang at all, to Cody's relief; he hated to get yelled at, and he didn't want Aang to suffer like that. Instead, she replied with an exasperated smile, "Yes it was," and hugged him.

Aang let out a gasp of joy as his face lit up with joy and surprise. Cody stifled a purr of joy as he and Totodile turned away to see the Unagi waving its fin at them. The red Gyarados was looking up at them with happiness as he called up at them in a normal loud voice.

"Goodbye, Team Avatar!" he roared. "Sorry for the trouble! From now on call, me if you need any help! Come back soon!"

"Goodbye, Gyarados! We'll see ya again someday!" Cody and Totodile called back as Appa flew off into the sunset, ready for the next adventure.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: Sorry this took long to update, everyone! Like I've said earlier before, I have a lot of time on my hands. Or was that supposed to be "I've been distracted lately?"**

**But anyways, I hope everyone liked this chapter! But there's gonna be a lot more than that, folks! And I've decided to make comic chapters in between chapters. So here's the preview for Bee Calm!**

**Preview: Team Avatar goes through the woods, looking for somewhere to get new supplies. However, things go off track when Aang finds a scorpion bee and won't move for whatever. Meanwhile, Cody and Katara go exploring to show the ups and downs of exploring.**

**Since The Promise part 1 is out right now, the gifts I'm giving to those who review will be virtual Team Avatar plush dolls with the designs from The Promise. Flames aren't allowed, for they will be used to ruin Ozai's Phoenix King plans. Constructive criticism is allowed, but don't make it too harsh.**

**See ya next time! And Happy early Valentines' Day!**


	6. Bee Calm!

**AvatarCat12: I think this might be the time to update a new chapter for Avatar Mystery Dungeon. And I think I should continue the series as soon as I can. One more thing: this will have all the Pokémon from the first generation to the fourth generation. But this will include some Pokémon from the fifth generation.**

**Let me remind you this: This chapter will take place between The Warriors Of Kyoshi and The King Of Omashu instead of Loyalty. It's because the Avatar version of it takes place between those two episodes. Sorry if I confuse you all.**

**But anyways, let's go on with the disclaimer and the other stuff.**

**Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last AirBender and Pokémon don't belong to me; they never have and they never will. Cody the Pikachu is named after me, but he's not me. He's just based off of me, being autistic and all.**

**Summary: Team Avatar goes through the woods, looking for somewhere to get new supplies. However, things go off track when Aang finds a scorpion bee and won't move for whatever. Meanwhile, Cody and Katara go exploring to show the ups and downs of exploring.**

**Updating Date: February 11, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_Bee Calm!_

"Cody, be careful up there!"

Totodile looked up to see where Katara was looking at with concern: Cody was easily leaping through the tree branches and leaping at any berries that he found. He also had to hand it to the WaterBender's concern, for her mother had been killed in a Fire Nation raid. After that, she had been taking care of the other members of the Tribe so much that she seemed entirely motherly. However, he knew Cody could handle himself, despite his autism.

"Ah, don't worry. He's a Pikachu; Pikachu are natural born climbers," Totodile chuckled. "He's just looking for berries to eat."

Finally, Cody leaped down from the trees and landed in Katara's arms, making them both blush. When she put him down on the ground, he set down a small purple bag in front of her and his best friend. He let several berries rumble out of the bag and onto the dirty earth.

Totodile recognized some of the berries as Oran, Pecha, Rawst, Cheri, or Chesto. He didn't see a Sitrus Berry anywhere, and several berries looked very bizarre to him.

He pointed to a Tomato Berry and said, "Hey, don't let Sokka near that. His mouth will be on fire again."

"Hey!" Sokka gave him a glare before saying to everyone, "Guys, Fire Nation soldiers could be anywhere. We'll have to be extra cautious to not make our presence known...whoa!"

"Huh?" Totodile turn around to see where he and Aang were at. He thought that the Water Tribe warrior saw a Fire Nation soldier, but it seemed that the tone was shocked, not scared.

Sokka was staring at Aang with amazement and anxiety as a small insect flew down and landed on the Avatar's nose. Totodile supposed that this was a bee; he knew bees were dangerous when it came to defending their hive. But he didn't really see any hive nearby and, for right now, the insect was acting rather passive.

Totodile trembled with fright; he had a great fear of bees. When he was a human, Cody had almost been stung in the eye by a bumblebee. And he (Totodile) was wounded by a Beedrill while going through Mt. Thunder to save Shiftry from Zapdos. Since he had been stung by the Bug/Poison type crudely, he had been frightened of all bees, even if they were Pokémon or friendly.

Meanwhile, Sokka told Aang, "You have a scorpion bee on your face!"

Totodile had no choice but to go over to them and watch. He had seen all sorts of weird animals on the way and even rode on some of the hopping llamas that Aang was talking about before he hopped off out of boredom. But he figured out that the animals would get even stranger when they go on further.

"As long as I don't bother it, it won't bother me. Being the Avatar, I have a special connection with nature," Aang told the Water Tribe warrior confidently.

"Well, here comes some more nature," Sokka said as he pointed at a swarm of these small and strange insects.

Totodile, Cody, and Katara looked up to see that the bees were now swarming around the young adolescent Avatar. The two Pokémon and the two other humans were amazed to find out that Aang wasn't bothered at all about this; he probably had a lot of guts. But he had to flinch a little when he saw that they were now flying close to him.

Aang still had a smile on his face as he rephrased his comment, "As long as I stay calm, they won't bother me."

"Yeah, right," Cody commented out loud.

Sokka nodded to the Pokémon before saying to Aang cynically, "They won't bother you, huh?"

Katara was the next person to say, "Aang, scorpion bees aren't exactly the friendliest insects."

While nodding and gulping in agreement, Totodile leaped behind Sokka's legs to hide himself, but the human stepped out of the way. Feeling very scared, the Big Jaw Pokémon hid behind Cody, who let him hide behind him.

"I'm fine," Aang reassured the humans while smiling. "Just don't make any sudden movements or loud noises."

Suddenly, Totodile heard a loud sneeze from behind him and that belonged to a Kricketune, who was muttering "Excuse me." Totodile turned to look angrily at the Bug type Pokémon, but it was already too late for Aang to do anything else. At hearing Momo screech, the Pokémon of Rescue Team Avatar turned to face a weird and startling sight.

Aang now looked very unrecognizable since the whole swarm of scorpion bees was now settling onto his body, making him look like a freak of nature. In front of him was Momo, who was screeching in fear, and his fur was bristling while his back was arched like a cat's. Totodile began to back away out of fear too.

"No, Momo!" Aang tried to reassure him. "It's me, Aang!"

_He's gonna tick at any moment, _Totodile told himself repeatedly. He kept repeating this until...

"LOOK OUT!" Aang suddenly hollered.

Totodile turned around to see that Aang was surrounding himself with an AirBall and quickly blew all of the scorpion bees off of his body. Not wanting to get sprayed by bees, the young blue crocodile leaped behind Sokka and held his hands over his head. He looked up to see that Cody, Sokka, and Katara were shielding themselves from the tidal wave of insects. Cody was using a Thunderbolt to keep them away.

Another swoosh of air told the Pokémon that Aang had quickly got onto his Air Scooter and sped away with the scorpion bees following him. Totodile didn't know why they were now after him, but he must have done something to upset them like stepping on their hive. Not all bees nest in the trees, remember that folks.

"I think I bothered them!" the Avatar told his friends as he sped off.

"You think?" Katara shouted back to him, an edge of impatience in her voice.

While Aang had been speeding around for a little while the bees followed him, Sokka shouted to him while pointing on ahead, "Go to that smoke! Smoke makes bees tired!"

Aang hollered back, "Good idea!"

"No! Go into a pond, take a reed, and hide in the pond until they go away!" Totodile called out to him. When Sokka gave him a weird look, the Big Jaw Pokémon retorted, "What? You never watch cartoons?"

But when he finished saying this, Aang had unintentionally scooped him up and that made him scream like a girl when he was being carried off. He tried to use a Water Gun attack on him to make the AirBender let him go, but this didn't work. Besides, he could put that fire out if he did a Water Gun attack and make the bees chase them still and sting them. Those stings made him flinch at that.

Suddenly, a warm sensation washed over Totodile's blue skin as he felt the bees get off of him and Aang at long last. Aang had jumped over a small campfire, and the smoke made the bees fly away and buzz angrily.

"Whew! That was a close one!" Aang sighed with relief, rubbing the back of his head.

Totodile leaped off his shoulder and snapped, "Well, whatever you did to make them swarm like that, don't do it again! I have a great fear of bees!"

Aang looked guilty at that as he replied, "I'm sorry, Totodile. I didn't know."

Feeling that he shouldn't blame him anymore, Totodile just gave him a pat on the leg.

"Don't move!" a Fire Nation soldier suddenly barked as he pointed his broadsword at Aang. His Houndoom, meanwhile, had pounced out from the bushes and knocked Totodile to the ground, pinning him down.

Totodile knocked the large dog-like Dark type away from him fast by using Water Gun, making Houndoom snarl and prepare a Flamethrower attack on him. Totodile was ready to attack when a small scorpion bee flew down and landed on the Dark Pokémon's nose, stinging it. Houndoom let out a howl of pain as he whimpered and pawed at his muzzle while Totodile slipped away, glad that he had suddenly lost his fear of bees.

Then he saw that the Fire Nation soldier had dropped his broadsword and began whimpering because there was another scorpion bee on his nose. Houndoom looked over at its master before whimpering and ran away, not bothering to help.

Quickly, Totodile got onto Aang's shoulder and sped away. In the meantime, the AirBender shouted a friendly warning over his shoulder:

"Don't bother it, and it won't bother you!"

**...**

It had been several hours since the fiasco with the scorpion bees and Katara was amazed to see how his best friend had changed. Totodile was no longer afraid of bees, for he was seen talking in a friendly way to three Combee about their adventure. After they ate a dinner of mixed berries, they went exploring and find a way to avoid the Fire Nation.

While Cody and Katara were exploring all on their own, Katara felt like she was a little kid again. She remembered playing exploring with her brother, and exploring with Cody brought this back again.

Then she suddenly gasped, "Look! Over there!"

"Huh?" he asked, turning to look where she was pointing.

Right there, in the middle of a clearing in the woods, was a large golden treasure chest that was just begging to be opened. Cody and Katara walked over to it and began inspecting it by feeling it all over with their hands. Katara could imagine the look on Sokka's face if her brother ever saw if this treasure chest opened to reveal the treasure or other prize inside.

Giving Katara a nod, the male Pikachu leaped on top of the chest and began whacking at it with his Iron Tail attack. But no matter how hard he tried to open it, it wouldn't budge a muscle. So he leaped down to where the lock was at and began using a small claw on his finger to open it up.

"Keep your filthy mitts off of Lady Weavile's treasure!" roared a voice from nowhere.

Cody and Katara leaped away from the chest in time for a claw to shoot out and drag the chest away. The owner of the claw came out: it was a big purple Pokémon that looked quite like a scorpion with twin hooks on its tail and a snarl on its face. The Pokémon next to it was a large purple cobra-like Pokémon with a menacing pattern on its belly.

Immediately, Katara knew who those two Pokémon: Drapion and Arbok from Team A.W.D, a band of thieves that steal treasure from other Pokémon. She knew who they were, for Cody had told her stories of them when he had the time to tell her stories. She even knew that the leader was Weavile, a black weasel-like Pokémon with a red crest on her head and sharp claws.

That said Pokémon came out of some thorn bushes and gave Cody a scornful sneer. It was a sneer that was frequently given to Team HeartGold.

The Sharp Claw Pokémon stepped forward and mocked, "Is Team Avatar's leader so pitiful that he has to have humans by his side for exploring?"

"Leave him alone!" Katara snapped, standing in front of Cody to block him from Weavile. "He's on a mission! Of course he needs the help of humans!"

Arbok slithered forward and leered at the Water Tribe girl, hissing, "Sssay, Weavile. Thisss little girl thinksss she can tell usss what to do. What shall we do with her?"

"Leave her be for now, Arbok," Weavile growled, pointing her claws at the large cobra. "It's that Pikachu that's trying to steal our treasure. We'll take it back from him. We've spent the entire chapter searching for it!"

"But we saw it first!" Cody snapped at her.

Katara saw electricity shiver on his cheeks as he sent a Thunderbolt at Weavile, but the Dark/Ice type Pokémon deflected it with an Ice Beam attack. Drapion blocked another Thunderbolt with his Cross Poison Attack and made the electricity crash into a tree, making it fall down. Katara and Cody backed away from the falling tree, watching it crash down in between them and Team A.W.D.

The three members of Team A.W.D. grouped together until they were blocking Cody and Katara away from the treasure chest. Cody had never had to battle a wall of Pokémon before, let alone by a group of nasty thieves.

"You and what army, bub?" Drapion snarled.

Weavile chuckled before barking at her teammates, "You two! You handle that blasted Pikachu! I'll handle the human girl."

Letting out a battle cry, Cody charged at Drapion and Arbok with a Quick Attack, hitting Arbok right in the chest. But Drapion peeled him away from his teammate and tried to deliver a Crunch attack on him. It managed to work, but Cody's Static ability caused Drapion to jump back while being paralyzed at the same time. Cody used his Iron Tail to knock the Poison/Dark type out of the way before turning around to see what was going on between Weavile and Katara.

The fourteen-year-old girl was dodging Weavile's sharp claws as she was trying to use a Metal Claw attack on her. And when the Metal Claw was going to hit Katara, she froze it to a tree, making Weavile angrier. It appeared that she was slightly getting better in her freezing attack.

"Ha! Do you honestly think I can be frozen?" Weavile sneered as she brought a powerful Metal Claw onto the ice and shattering it. "I'm an Ice type; you should know while living in that dump of a place you call home!"

"We'll see about that!" Katara snapped, getting angry at Weavile insulting her home. She lashed out with another speedy punch, connecting with Weavile's jaw and knocking a few teeth out; she had never her fists in a fight a lot.

But Weavile grabbed a second fist attack just in time before twisting it around a little, making the WaterBender cry in pain and kneel down. Cody tried to leap forward to help, but Arbok coiled himself around him and tried to squeeze him while Drapion stomped forward, ready for a final attack. Weavile sneered at this before catching Katara's other fist (which she threw quickly at the Pokémon), twisting it also.

She was ready to strike with a Hyper Beam attack before something random happened. A little scorpion bee landed on her nose.

"AHHHH!" Weavile screamed so loudly that it made Drapion and Arbok stop fighting Cody. As if reacting to the screaming, the scorpion bee lifted its rear and plunged its stinger into the Dark type's nose. This was making her scream even more loudly, letting Katara go so she could run around in circles.

"Get it off me! I'm scared of bees!" the Sharp Claw Pokémon wailed.

"Really?" Cody snorted; the tables had turned to a familiar one. As another swarm of scorpion bees swarmed down and circled her, he went on, "Totodile was scared of them until today. Don't bother them, and they won't bother you!"

Laughing as they watched Weavile scream while running away with her teammates behind her, Cody and Katara went back to the chest. It appeared that Arbok had a key and was on the verge of opening it until Cody tackled him out of nowhere. Giving each other a nod, they picked up the key and unlocked the chest, fitted their hands under the lid, and lifted with all their might.

But inside there...was honey.

"THIS was what they were after?" Katara asked with disbelief. "They were looking for honey?"

But Cody noticed a hive in there and Katara finally realized that this was the lost hive of the scorpion bees. As if on cue, the swarm of scorpion bees swarmed back to the hive and filled it up until no other insect was in there.

Cody and Katara waited until they were settled until they ran off to find the others back at camp. Along the way, he began complementing her on her first-ever exploration.

Katara was telling him, "Did you see me get in that fist fight with Weavile? That was one great exploration!"

"Well, you'll be having plenty of those sometime soon," Cody told her. "I promise you that!"

"I guess I will," she replied, smiling brightly at him.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: If everyone thinks I should make this a bit longer, just say so. But I still hope you all like this chapter, since it's the first Avatar Mystery Dungeon comic. Plus, I got The Promise Part One on Thursday, and it was awesome! Now I'm waiting until April to get Warriors: The Last Hope and Warriors: After The Flood.**

**I've already decided who gets what Pokémon during the entire series. But however, there is one thing missing: I haven't decided on ALL who gets a Pokémon, so you're free to choose who gets what. And unlike other FanFics that has a Nation choose one Pokémon element, I like to mix it up. Keeps you on your toes. Here's the preview for King Of Omashu.**

**Preview: Aang takes his human and Pokémon friends to the city of Omashu, where an old friend is said to live. But when they get in trouble on their first visit, will they get out of this mess without getting into traps?**

**Anyone who reviews this story (and no one hasn't reviewed this yet) will get a virtual plush doll of Pikachu with a heart in the middle. Flames are not allowed in this story or any other story of mine; they'll be put out by WaterBending or EarthBending. Constructive criticism is allowed, but don't make it too harsh.**

**One more thing: Please see the poll on my profile. And...I forgot what I was gonna say.**

**So see ya next time! And Happy early Valentine's Day!**


	7. The King Of Omashu

**AvatarCat12: As of right now, I've got a few top uploaded stories including Nightfang and Avatar Cat. I think I might try and upload some more stories that I haven't uploaded, but I still might get distracted. But don't worry.**

**Today has been seven years ever since Avatar: The Last AirBender came out on T.V. So we shall all salute to Avatar: The Last AirBender, the best show Nickelodeon has ever made. But first, let's get this chapter done and over with.**

**Disclaimer: Pokémon and Avatar: The Last AirBender do not belong to me. If they did, I would either create cool fifth generation Pokémon or make Kataang happen early.**

**Summary: Aang takes his human and Pokémon friends to the city of Omashu, where an old friend is said to live. But when they get in trouble on their first visit, will they get out of this mess without getting into traps?**

**Uploading Date: February 21, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_King of Omashu_

Cody, Totodile, Katara, and Sokka panted hard from tiredness as they followed Aang up the hill. Aang had just told them the other day that they were going to go see Omashu, a city with a weird name, and he seemed excited about it. So the two Pokémon agreed with the humans to tag along and go into the city.

Back to the story, the five travelers (including Appa and Momo) were climbing to the top of a small hill to catch up to Aang and tried to get a drink. Cody and Totodile got there after Aang and rested against each other, panting for breath. Katara and Sokka looked a little tired, though they weren't as tired as the two Pokémon since they were taller.

Aang smiled and spread his arms out wide, saying to the others, "There it is! The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!"

Cody and Totodile sat up with water bottles in their hands and looked on with gasps of wonder and amazement. A walled city rested on top of a huge rock outcrop and was accessible only by a narrow switchback road. The city looked both extraordinary and unconquerable for enemies.

Aang saw the amazed looks on his friend because he added, "I used to always come here to visit my friend, Bumi."

"Wow. We don't have cities like this in the South Pole," Katara said, wonder in her eyes.

Sokka also stared on in amazement as he added, "They have buildings here that don't melt!"

"Yeah. This looks even better than Las Vegas and I've seen PLENTY of pictures of that city," Cody added, looking around.

All the Pokémon in Pokémon Square were educated about the way that humans had lived and even adopted some of their lifestyles. But they were proud to be naked. Pokémon didn't wear clothes if they didn't have to.

To their amazement, Aang looked on ahead, cheering, "Well, let's go slow pokes! The real fun is inside the city!"

The Avatar launched himself into the air and landed farther down the hill. Cody was afraid that he would quickly reveal his identity as the Avatar; to him, there could be Pokémon and humans ready to attack. Perhaps thinking what his friend was thinking, Totodile went ahead and managed to stop Aang by tripping him with his tail.

As Aang sat up and gave Totodile a confused look before taking another step onward, Katara and Sokka joined up with them, Katara saying, "Wait, Aang! It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."

"You need a disguise," Sokka put in quickly.

"Yeah," Totodile said. "And it gotta be something that'll make you fit in...unlike what I did. I went to Vietnam dressed up as a clown and said they'd be recruiting clowns. Though I was dressed up like one."

Cody gave him a knowing look. "You didn't really go there, did you?"

Totodile shook his head. "It's to add spiciness to the story, you know?"

But Aang just gave them a confused look.

"So, what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" he asked his friend a little cheekily. Despite being a peaceful person, that didn't mean that he could lash back with a smart retort.

Cody took one look at Appa, who was rubbing himself against a large boulder, and he noticed that some small pieces of hair were falling down around the rock. An idea forming into his head, he pointed to the other three travelers (minus Aang) and their own smiles became rather sly and knowing. The Avatar just gave them confused looks as they whispered among themselves.

Just around a minute later, Aang had already been made a fake mustache and fake hairdo from Appa's fur. Cody and Totodile had to blindfold him while Katara and Sokka gathered up the hair and placed it onto him. Now he looked perfect in the disguise of an old man.

"Whoops! Forgot the sunglasses!" Totodile added, putting a pair of sunglasses over his dark gray eyes. "Good! You look like Seth Rogen! Now you can be funny without doing anything!"

Cody joined in the fun by saying, "Totodile, are we gonna go along now? I gotta get some drinks with the fellas before I go out for this date."

Totodile laughed, "Now THAT'S funny!"

Meanwhile, Aang whined as he itched himself all over, "Ohh, this is so itchy! How do you live in this stuff?" he added to Appa, but the Sky Bison just grunted at him in response.

After they dropped the Seth Rogen jokes, Cody and Totodile joined up with the two Water Tribe siblings to admire their work. It looked like this was one plan that wouldn't fail at all; besides, the people in the city might care for their elderly. Both Pokémon hated it when someone would deliberately hurt an elderly person just because they wanted to.

"Great! Now you look just like my grandfather," Sokka praised Aang, taking off the sunglasses Totodile put on his eyes.

"Technically, Aang IS a hundred and twelve years old," Katara put in reasonably.

_I thought he was twelve? _Cody thought with confusion. Then he remembered what Katara had told him about Aang; the young AirBending Avatar had been frozen in a large iceberg that he himself made from one hundred years ago. Katara herself had smashed it with Sokka's machete to break him free.

With that said and done, Aang quickly picked up his staff and used a fake old man voice to speak to his friends. "Now let's get to skippin', young whippersnappers! The big city awaits!" And then he began to walk away while hunched over, using his staff as a walking stick.

Katara and Sokka looked rather confused with the whippersnapper thing until Totodile reassured them. "Hey, it's a funny word and an old person word. Other old person words are 'Skedaddle', as in 'Hey you, skedaddle off my lawn!' and 'Kerfuffle'. Word up!"

Cody watched the two humans give the Big Jaw Pokémon a nod before they followed Aang over to the access road. This might probably be the only way to go over to Omashu, he mused as he saw a Digglet poke itself out. Beside him, a Dugtrio popped its three heads from the ground and nudged the Digglet back underground.

He felt a little homesick after seeing the Digglet, but he knew that he didn't want to go back until the mission was complete. Shrugging it away, he gave his fur a quick shake before following his friends.

**...**

As they walked along the path to Omashu, Aang and his friends had only stopped once when Totodile found a Mystic Water on the ground. He told them that this item help boost up the powers of Water type Pokémon. When Katara asked him if it worked for WaterBending, he just said that he didn't know.

Meanwhile, Aang was telling his friends, "You guys are gonna love Omashu. The people here are the friendliest in the world."

"Rotten cabbages! What kind of slum do you think this is?"

Totodile gave Aang a hard look and growled "You were saying?" as the five travelers stopped and looked around the corner to see what was going on.

A cabbage merchant was trying to get into the city, but the guard and his Vigoroth were giving him some bit of trouble. Cody almost used a Thunderbolt on the guard, but that would only cause trouble. Besides, he felt that it wasn't worth it.

The guard held one of the cabbages and crushed it in his hand, knocking those in the merchant's arms over the side of the access road. Vigoroth trampled all over them before getting back to his post. The guard then EarthBended a lump of the ground, knocking the merchant's cabbage cart high into the air and over the side of the access road.

The cart and all the merchant's cabbages plunged hundreds of feet to the valley floor below.

As he looked over the side of the chasm, the merchant cried, "NOOO! MY CABBAGES!"

The five travelers looked over the side as well and Cody told Totodile, "That fall doesn't look good."

"Yeah," Totodile said. "It reminds me of the time when you fell off of Lugia."

Cody grimaced. "Yeah. I just HAD to pull that feather off his wing!"

"Just keep smiling," Aang told the four other members of the group.

Then the Avatar walked forward with a big smile. Katara giggled uneasily, but she and Sokka followed while Cody and Totodile whistled while stepping away from the edge. Totodile saw the cabbage merchant have a small smile as he crawled towards a shred of cabbage, but he knocked it into the abyss with his tail. It caused the merchant to cry "MY CABBAGES!" again.

The guard who had just obliterated the cart walked forward to meet Aang. He EarthBended a huge boulder out of the ground and held it over the young Avatar's head. The Vigoroth that trampled the cabbages quickly rushed over and glared at the disguised Avatar.

"State your business," the guard growled.

Vigoroth sneered with a mafia voice, "Yeh. And makes it snappy, see?"

Aang rushed forward out from under the rock's shadow with much too agile for his supposed age. He pointed a critical finger at the guard and, using his old man voice, began to speak. "My business is my business, young man, and none of yours! I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!"

The guard and Vigoroth stared at him with surprise as the guard dropped the stone, Katara and Sokka looked terrified at what Aang was doing, and Cody shook his head while Totodile slapped his forehead. The key to getting into the city was to pretend that you were meant to be there, but Aang was stretching it too far.

_This isn't going to work._

The gate guard replied cautiously, "Settle down, old timer. Just tell us who you are."

"Yeah," the Vigoroth said with no sneering tone. "And uh...takes your time, see."

Aang took the chance to say in his old man voice, "Name's Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the Third, and these are my grandkids and their pets."

Katara smiled serenely (while Cody told himself she looked cute when she smiled) and told the guard politely, "Hi, June Pipinpadaloxicopolis. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Danny the Pikachu," Cody spoke up. Pointing to the smiling and waving Totodile, he said, "And this is Jack the Totodile."

Totodile added, "Hey, man. How's it goin'?"

"You seem like a responsible young lady," the guard told Katara as he pointed to her. "See that your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu!"

"We will," Katara replied politely.

Vigoroth plodded forward to Cody and shoved his face towards his face as he barked out his instructions. "You twos seems to be reliable pets. Guards your pals with your lives," he added softly as if he was going to cry.

Cody and Totodile gave him a weird look as they nodded and walked away from the sloth-like Pokémon. The guard and Vigoroth motioned for Team Avatar to pass. The three walked forward into the big city with Sokka and Totodile trailing behind the others.

Suddenly, the guard snapped, "Wait a minute!" and grabbed Sokka by the shoulder just after he passed by the gate. Cody was afraid that they were found out until the guard told the Water Tribe teen, "You're a strong young boy. Show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag."

"Good idea!" Aang replied, throwing his bag to Sokka, who gave him a strange look as if he had thrown up on his foot. Then Sokka tried to fling the bag to Totodile and pass the buck, but the Big Jaw Pokémon reacted by bouncing it back with his tail.

With that done, the three humans and two Pokémon stood in front of the gate, which was stone and consisted of three movable interlocking stone walls. The five were shocked by the size and power of this fortification. The gates began to close again as the five moved forward to go by through it.

But when Cody leaped onto Katara's shoulder and looked around, he saw the guard and Vigoroth give Aang a weird glance, for Momo's ears popped out from Appa's hair. He tried to ignore it as they went on into the walled city.

**...**

The five of them were finally inside the city, looking around in amazement. They looked over a railing at the interior of the city; there were many houses with roofs painted in Earth Kingdom green. There were chutes all over the city with crates and packages sliding along them. Aang turned around and began to explain what the chutes did around the city.

"This is the Omashu delivery system. Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. EarthBending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down."

Aang was saying all of this rather quickly as he pointed to all of the stuff. Cody and Totodile looked around in amazement; this was probably an advanced version of the Pelliper post Office. But Cody wondered who or what brought the goods to the city.

He even said to Katara out loud, "You know, the Pelliper Post Office is kinda like this."

"Really?" she asked, sounding interested. "That's nice, Cody."

Sokka looked around and said with mild interest, "Great, so they get their mail on time."

"Yeah. They make sure it gets done fast," Totodile said in agreement as he watched several Bonsly pushing a cart forward and looking down as the cart zoomed down very quickly.

Aang smiled at them and said, "They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes..." He looked away and smiled with a mischievous look on his face.

Suddenly, the scene around Cody and Totodile whirled around; they knew that they were in yet another flashback. The last one they were at was at the Southern Air Temple where they saw Aang and Gyatso. This time, they were maybe back at Omashu as it was one hundred years ago. But they saw that it had barely changed a lot; it seemed that change really didn't like to come to this place.

The two Pokémon looked over at Aang, who was standing on a balcony over the chutes that went through the city. Next to him was a boy with spiky orange hair tied with a headband looking out over the city. As the boy, who appeared to be Bumi, turned to face Aang, Cody and Totodile saw that he had a missing tooth and a somewhat insane facial expression. Next to them was a young male Aron with the same insane look.

"Look around you, what do you see?" Bumi asked Aang quickly with a smile on his face.

"Umm...the mail system?" Aang asked him.

Cody rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "No, it's a rat race!" At this, both Pokémon laughed; it seemed that they had an affect on Aron because he was laughing at what Aang had said.

Both Pokémon recovered just in time to hear Bumi tell Aang conspiratorially, "Instead of seeing what they want you to see, you gotta open your brain to the possibilities."

Aang asked his friend, "A package sending system?"

"Of course not! And they don't use it for snake races either!" Aron spoke up happily, pointing to the chutes.

At that, he whispered into Bumi's ear with an insane look on his face. Cody could tell that Aron looked insane when they watched Bumi and his Steel/Rock type partner smile at Aang crazily. Then, together, they shouted:

"The world's greatest super slide!"

Aang, Cody, and Totodile looked over the balcony to see the carts zooming around in the chutes as quickly as a roller coaster. Plus, that reminded the two Pokémon of the rides that they had often rode on at the carnival near Treasure Town. Totodile had gotten sick there only two times, and that was only after he had just eaten.

With a shrewd smile on his face, Aang turned around to Bumi and praised, "Bumi, you're a mad genius!"

Bumi smiled, laughed, and snorted at the same time and Aron was doing the same thing like his owner was doing. In the next moment, both humans and the only Pokémon were now zooming around on the slide in a cart that they "borrowed" from a local guard. But right before Cody and Totodile could do anything else, they were transported back to the present day.

Totodile gave Cody a wide smile and said, "Wow...that DOES sound like fun!"

**...**

"Did I say fun? I meant shocking!"

Totodile's opinion of the chutes had changed when Aang announced that they could all go for a ride on the chutes of the city. All five of them were now in a cart that was teetering right over the edge toward the chute below. Aang looked much energized while the other two humans were looking rather doubtful.

Cody and Totodile, meanwhile, took out some bags to throw up in; besides. They were cramped in the cart because the humans were squishing them.

"One ride, then we're off to the North Pole," Aang was reassuring them. "AirBender's honor."

Katara looked very scared as she protested in vain, "This sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second thoughts!"

But unfortunately, as she finished her sentence, the bin dropped into the chute and they rocketed away while the two Pokémon were screaming their heads off and holding on to each other. This was clearly not like a roller coaster at all; to them, it looked very dangerous and it was a ride that only Rock type Pokémon would enjoy.

As they accelerated down the chute, a nearby chute became visible in the surroundings beside them. It was clearly going to merge with the chute that the group was in. A rack of spears was dropping down this other chute and after the two paths merged, Sokka was ducking to avoid getting killed. Both Water Tribe siblings started making distressed noises as they tried to avoid the spears.

Totodile was looking very scared and furious at Aang at the same time. "I think you're pushing this too much! It's all fun and games till someone gets stabbed by a sword!"

"I'm on it! I'm on it!" Aang shouted back at him, rocking the bin back and forth in the chute. He soon derailed them out of the chute, and their bin freefell onto a rooftop below.

In front of them up ahead, they could see a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers being addressed by their leader. "Men, you'll be going off to combat soon. It's important that you be prepared for anything."

At this moment, the bin with the travelling group fell into view, shocking their audience. Cody could just see themselves now: Aang had just grabbed the front of the bin and was apparently trying to pull it up, his foot in Katara's face. Sokka was panicking in the back of the cart and the two Pokémon were throwing up in their bags.

Finally, Aang did some AirBending to propel the bin back into the air and out of sight. Within a second or two, they had managed to drop back into a chute and were rocketing down once again.

While they rocketed down the chute, Katara was shouting to Aang, "Aang, do something! Use your AirBending!"

"Yeah! Great idea!" Aang replied to her, a wide smile on his face. "That'll make us go even faster!"

"Aw, now look!" Cody scolded Katara. "Now he's gonna kill us faster! It's like the time when..."

But Totodile shouted, "Cody, as much as I love Family Guy humor, we got a bigger problem!" But Totodile didn't say anything else and threw up in his bag because Aang blasted air behind them, making them speed up. The city dwellers looked at them in alarm as they whizzed by down the chute.

As they approached the drop down of the last major chute, they all screamed as they saw the off-load point just in front of them. The off-load had a large package on it that they would hit. An EarthBender next to it moved the package and the group breathed a sigh of relief. But then, the EarthBender raised another package into the off-load point and the group screamed again. Rather than hit the package, though, they hit the side of the trench and ran off the track again. They all fell out of the bin and were falling, but Aang AirBended them each back into the bin.

But while they had been flying, Cody and Totodile couldn't help but throw up since there were no bags to throw up in. That caused a commotion from the local Pokémon:

"DUDE! What the heck?" a Houndour snapped.

"I just had my fur washed!" a Lopunny wailed.

"Seriously? _Seriously_?" a Nidoqueen growled.

"When I catch those Pokémon, I'll shove their sick back down their throats!" a Primeape spat.

The two members of Rescue Team Avatar shouted apologies to the crowd while the group quickly bounced off a roof and into a man's work room, destroying his pottery. They bounced off his floor and out the window opposite the one they came in.

**"**Sorry!" Aang called back.

Totodile looked blankly at Cody and said, "Looks like pottery doesn't last long like it once did."

They dropped down into someone's living room and flew right through their house. Outside, they crashed through the wall of the balcony and dropped again, screaming. Cody thought, as Momo fought a bearded cat on Aang's head, that lemurs and cats didn't get along so well.

The Pokémon could see the cabbage merchant from the earlier scene, fondly shaking one of his cabbages. As a loud clang from the cart echoed through the area, he saw the merchant look up and jump back as the bin and the group fell onto the cabbage cart, destroying it and blowing cabbages all over the place. The group landed in a heap and Aang's disguise was now gone.

"My cabbages! You're gonna pay for this!" the cabbage merchant snapped at the group as several guards and their Growlithe surrounded them.

Aang just looked up and added sheepishly, "Two cabbages, please."

_Not for me, thank you, _Cody thought as the young Pikachu gave a hiccup and threw up a little on the last cabbage.

Then he suddenly thought of something: "Wait, weren't these cabbages destroyed earlier?"

"Well, they are _now_," Totodile groaned as he fainted.

**...**

The small group had been arrested quickly and taken to the Omashu King's palace; inside, it was decorated in different shades of Earth Kingdom green. The aged King was sitting on his throne in the distance, for it was a large room.

The aged king was wearing the same crazy expression as in Aang's flashback, though he was now ancient. Beside him was a large male Lairon that looked as if it was going to slam down onto the two smaller Pokémon. There was something familiar about the Iron Armor Pokémon's eyes that made Cody and Totodile gasp.

"Cody! I think it's that kid from a long time ago!" Totodile whispered. Then he added, "But he looks...old!"

"Yeah! And that Aron must've evolved!" Cody replied as he looked at the Lairon. It was leering closely at them like a hidden camera.'

The group was forced by the soldiers to march in front of the king and kneel down before him. The two Pokémon knew that this was meant to show respect; especially if that someone was an old king. So they mimicked what the humans did.

King Bumi looked over the group and just said, "Mmm?"

"Your majesty," one of the guards said as he looked up to his ruler, "these juveniles and their two Pokémon were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, causing havoc among the city's Pokémon, and malicious destruction of cabbages."

Cody looked over at the cabbage merchant when that was said and the male Pikachu didn't like the look on his face. He looked extremely distressed and very angry indeed; he looked more probable to breathe fire than Charizard from Team A.C.T. According to him, seemingly, the mauling of cabbages was a very bad misdemeanor in some countries.

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" the cabbage merchant shouted angrily.

Cody and Totodile winced at that; they didn't like the sound of that. But before things got wrong, a guard barked at the merchant, "Silence! Only the King can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, Sire?"

King Bumi and his Lairon looked over at the young group without speaking at all as their crazed eyes swept over the team. Sokka looked very nervous as he glanced around, Katara was giving him a hopeful pleading stare (Cody stifled a laugh at that), and Aang just looked confused and acted like he was invisible by whistling. Cody and Totodile just kneeled before him and started praying to God for their lives.

"Throw them...a feast!" Bumi gave his judgment.

The guards looked very surprised at this declaration while the cabbage merchant groaned with discontent. The group was just confused and the Pokémon of Rescue Team Avatar gave each other some weird glances; weren't they going to be punished? But instead of a punishment, all five were given...a feast.

Suddenly, the servants brought forward a long table and laid lots of food down onto it while the group sat at one end. Momo immediately flew in out of nowhere and started eating some of the sweets. Also, Katara and Sokka had their heavy Water Tribe coats removed for the time being so that they wouldn't get too hot under them.

"Hehehe! The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin," Bumi said as he offered Aang a chicken leg.

But Aang politely refused by saying, "Thanks, but I don't eat meat."

"Oh come on!" Lairon protested, waving a corn dog right in front of Totodile as the Water type Pokémon took it at once. "It's skinless chicken!"

"Is this poisoned?" Cody asked Bumi.

Lairon just glared at him through narrowed blue eyes before walking together with Bumi, who arrived at Sokka's spot, telling him, "How about you? I bet you like meat." At that, he stuck the chicken drumstick in Sokka's mouth; the Water Tribe teen chewed it with great enthusiasm and made satisfied sounds.

Cody and Katara just looked over at Aang as if thinking that he was crazy to not just leave. Then Katara made little cuckoo waves with her finger at the side of her head as she asked Aang, "Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?"

"No...he's completely lost his freakin' mind!" Cody whispered. "This is worse than the time that Shiftry went to the museum when he was a Seedot! He wanted to know why the dinosaurs died out. The only answer he got was because he went to the bathroom."

Meanwhile, King Bumi and Lairon had just went over to their end of the table and sat down there. Lairon reached across the table to take some salt-&-pepper shakers, dumped the contents out while throwing a pinch of salt over his shoulder, and ate the shakers up. Cody smirked at this; any Lairon loved to eat iron.

"So tell us, bald one," King Bumi addressed Aang. "Where are you from?"

Aang replied, "I'm from...Kangaroo Island."

"Kangaroo Island is also a real place in another human world," Totodile muttered into Aang's ear.

"Really?"

Totodile nodded.

Bumi didn't really pay attention to what the crocodile-like Pokémon was saying. Instead, he just said, "Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hoppin'!"

There was silence for just a few seconds, then the silence was broken by Sokka's laughter. But the other four looked right at him as if he had grown a third head like a Dodrio. Sokka saw them looking at him, so he protested, "What? It was pretty funny."

Meanwhile, Lairon ate one more metal spoon and sighed sleepily while King Bumi gave a loud yawn and a stretch. "Well, all these good jokes are making us tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay."

But as he ended his sentence, he quickly and suddenly threw another chicken drumstick at Aang, who AirBended it to a standstill, though he looked very surprised. It was spinning in the air in front of him. The guards and their Pokémon drew in their breath in surprise. Cody, who was ready to fry the drumstick with a Thunderbolt attack, slapped his forehead and groaned.

They were busted...again.

King Bumi and Lairon gaped at him with mild surprise, although Bumi recovered quickly to say, "There's an AirBender in our presence and not just any AirBender, the Avatar!" He and Lairon stood up, and Aang dropped the drumstick, trying to act like he did not just reveal himself. "_Now_ what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis?" He ended this with a crazy cackle and Lairon joined in.

"Yeah! We got you surrounded...literally!" Lairon cackled happily.

Cody leaped down from the table and headed for the exit, but he was rebuffed by a large angry Claydol. Totodile had used Water Gun to get it away, but the Claydol used Psychic to make the attack backfire and the two Pokémon fell to the ground, alive but dazed. The humans didn't do anything, but they were almost on the brink of breaking free and running off from the King's chamber.

They were very trapped indeed.

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

While Cody and Totodile glanced around them fast to make sure the guards and their Pokémon didn't attack, the humans weren't really going to attack; instead, the human members of Team Avatar looked too shocked to even start to attack.

Cody watched Aang stand up and spread his arms out wide in a signal of defeat. "Okay! You caught me. I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out." He looked under the table and said, "No FireBenders here."

"Wait a minute. I didn't see any..." Cody began.

Totodile, who was nodding to Aang, muttered to Cody, "Buddy, just play along."

"So, good work everybody!" Aang continued as he put his arms around his companions and together, they stood up. Katara and Sokka put on some pained smiles while Cody and Totodile joined them, also with pained smiles. "Love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears! We'll see you next time!"

"Yeah, and running with spears is a way to lose an eye!" Cody added, playing along at last.

The three humans had been walking backwards and quite quickly to the door, but the guards stopped them. Cody and Totodile tried to travel under their legs, but a Marowak found them and poked them out by using its bone. When this was done, a large Rhydon stomped over to them and trapped them in his arms.

Katara turned around to tell King Bumi, "You can't keep us here. Let us leave!"

"Lettuce leaf?" Bumi replied back, apparently mistaking that for an actual lettuce leaf. Then he picked up a lettuce leaf from the plate in front of him and took a bite. Lairon joined him in taking a whole lettuce into his mouth and chomping on it noisily.

As they watched King Bumi and Lairon eat the salad, Sokka leaned to his friends and whispered to them, "We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts!"

Cody watched Totodile nod in agreement; he was quite amazed at how his best friend's attitude toward the Water Tribe teenager had changed. He knew that it was probably because of being at Kyoshi Island or almost falling down a waterfall. But then he reminded himself that the bond might not last because of their differences.

King Bumi finished eating the lettuce piece for a bit as he told the travelers in a serious voice, "Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber."

"Yeah," Lairon added. "And you can use a Pokémon to help you. But you can't use more than one or it'll be cheating."

"My liege," a guard asked the king, "do you mean the good chamber, or the bad chamber?"

"The newly refurbished chamber."

"Wait, which one are we talking about?"

"The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course, Lairon and I keep calling it the new chamber, but we really should number them." Taking one look at the prisoners, he announced, "Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"

So the Rescue Team was being led out of the chamber room with the guards right behind them. Cody looked behind him and he saw that Bumi was staring crazily at them before eating another part of the lettuce leaf. Lairon just gave a massive yawn before falling asleep on the table right next to his owner.

Cody whispered to Totodile, "What do you think will happen?" He remembered Gengar telling Medicham and Ekans about King Bumi and his craziness.

"Heck if I know," Totodile said. "What I'm worried about right now is trying to..." He let out a yawn, "...sleep."

**...**

The two Pokémon and the three humans watched as the guards tore open a wall with their own EarthBending skills. Cody clearly remembered Katara telling him about EarthBenders back at the Southern Air temple before the skeleton of Monk Gyatso was discovered.

The three humans were thrust in while the two Pokémon were tossed inside by Rhydon and the "door" was closed by EarthBending. The chamber was beautiful, spacious and furnished with three very comfortable-looking beds. The young male Pikachu looked up in time to see this before leaping onto one bed and staring around him.

"This is a prison cell?" Katara said with disbelief. "But it's so nice."

Aang told her, "He did say it was newly refurbished."

Totodile looked around him and said, "Yeah. It's even better than when I was a doctor."

"Nice or not, we're still prisoners," Sokka spoke up.

"Then why did you take that chicken leg?" Cody asked him. "It could've been poisoned!"

Totodile, Aang, and Katara looked at him with wonder while Sokka just sat there, staring at him as if an alien had landed right in front of him. Cody didn't want to act like that, but accepting food from an enemy was considered a threat to him.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Aang said, "I wonder what these challenges are gonna be. And I wonder which Pokémon I'll choose. It's either Cody or Totodile."

Katara replied to him while placing her hands on her hips, "We're not sticking around to find out. There's gotta be some way outta here."

_But how will we leave? _Cody wondered. The Rescue Team Avatar leader looked around him, searching for a way out of this chamber. But so far, there seemed to be no way out for a human or a Pokémon to leave...

_Except for..._

"The air vents!" Aang announced, smiling as he pointed towards an air vent.

Cody growled silently to himself. _Crap! I was gonna say that! At least I can echo this to myself!_

But Sokka didn't seem to think of it as a good idea. Instead of agreeing with the AirBender, he just growled, "If you think we're gonna fit through there, then you're crazier than that king!"

Aang pointed to the circular vent again and said, "We can't, but Momo can."

Totodile tapped Cody on the shoulder and pointed to one of the comfortable beds. There, on top of there, was Momo; his stomach looked really full while he kept licking an apple. King Bumi seemed to be right for one part; people AND animals seemed to grow fat from his feasts. And right now, there seemed to be no way that the flying lemur would be able to fit through the air vent.

Cody told Aang, "Look, I don't think he can right..."

"But this is an emergency!" the Avatar told him as he walked over to Momo. Then he told the lemur, "Momo, I need you to find Appa and bust us outta here!"

To his dismay, Aang picked Momo up and carried him over to the circular air vent. To add insult to injury for Momo, the lemur's owner quickly stuffed him into the small and apparently tight area. But no matter how hard he tried, Aang couldn't seem to fit Momo right into there as he kept having some trouble.

Aang panted, "Go on, boy! Get Appa!" He finally stopped pushing, only to have poor Momo's behind dangle from the vent. He was stuck.

"See?" Totodile told Aang.

"I get it, okay?" said human retorted. The Big Jaw Pokémon just shrugged at this.

After that mess was over, Sokka asked Aang quizzically, "Eh, how was Appa supposed to save all six of us anyway?"

Aang sat down onto the floor and began to think hard about this while Momo tried hard to free himself, but failed to be free. "Appa is a ten ton flying bison. I think he could figure something out."

"Well, no point in arguing about it now," Katara answered him while getting into one of the three beds. "Get some rest, Aang. Looks like you'll need it for tomorrow."

Before going under her covers to curl up next to her, Cody watched Aang walk disconsolately over to the last unoccupied bed. He hated to find out what would happen the next day, but now was not the time to think about it. Now was the time to just go to sleep and forget about all their troubles. For now.

Giving a sigh of defeat, the male Pikachu slipped under the covers, curled up next to Katara, and fell fast asleep. He let the female WaterBender's sweet scent emanating from her sleeping body nuzzle him with ease before he finally let dreams take him to sleep. It was a long day and he just wanted to forget it ever happened.

**...**

Cody woke up when he heard a loud noise like Appa roaring and pushed himself against Katara's body to push himself up...but he instead felt empty space. Katara wasn't there, although he could feel that her spot was fairly warm from her sleeping. But her sweet scent was still there... faintly.

He poked his head out of the covers to see that Sokka's bed was also empty; since Totodile was sleeping at the foot of his bed, he was also missing. Only Aang was in his bed, snoring loudly. The Pikachu reminded himself that AirBenders were very big snorers next to Sky Bison like Appa.

_But where are the others?_

Suddenly, the room shook as an EarthBender opened the changeable "door" and his Rhydon stomped in after him. Aang opened his dark gray eyes to see the other beds empty.

He sat up and yelped, "Totodile! Sokka! Katara!" To the guards, he asked them angrily, "Where are my friends?"

Cody growled before he leapt at Rhydon, but the Drill Pokémon opened a hand and grabbed him before he got close with Iron Tail. The huge Rock/Ground type Pokémon mentioned for him to save his strength; the young Pikachu suspected he was the Pokémon chosen to be Aang's partner during the trials. Cody had just forgotten that he had to complete the tasks.

"The King will free them if you complete your challenges," the guard replied to Aang.

"And if I fail?" the AirBender asked him.

The guard and Rhydon shrugged before the guard said, "He didn't say. Your staff, please?"

Cody watched in disbelief as Aang agreed and tossed the staff over to him. The autistic Pikachu decided to save his strength for later because battling Rhydon right now would cost him energy, thus costing them their freedom. So giving a sigh, he leaped onto Aang's shoulder (which wasn't the same as riding on Katara's shoulder) and the two of them left their prison.

_This reminds me of the time when...oh, I can't say the flashbacks now! I can't if Totodile's in danger! We gotta pass that test!_

**...**

Cody and Aang arrived into the green throne room while the guards and their Pokémon flanked behind them were guarding them. Cody was sure that it meant that they weren't going to let them run anywhere. So he just lowered his head and leaped onto Aang's shoulder, not speaking a word at all.

When they saw King Bumi and Lairon, Cody held back a laugh when he looked over at Bumi. The old king was wearing an awful blue, purple, and light green robe, which all looked quite odd. Lairon was wearing a medal on his neck that said the words "Number 1 Steel Pokémon."

_Those would look good if their wives said it did._

"First, Avatar, what do you think of my new outfit?" Bumi asked Aang when the two travelers entered the throne room. "I want your honest opinion."

Lairon nodded and added, "And no tricks now! I love this medal so much that it'll get taken away by aliens if its feelings are hurt!"

At first, there was no reaction from either the Avatar or the male Pikachu. Cody coughed loudly to make sure that they got his opinion. Lairon glanced at him through narrowed eyes, but King Bumi looked rather calm.

Said king broke the silence by saying, "We're waiting."

Finally, Aang replied, "I...guess it's fine."

"Well, I think..." Cody started, but after seeing the look on Aang's face, he side-tracked, "...that they look cool on you two."

"Excellent!" Bumi praised him. "You have passed the first test." Lairon nodded in agreement while Cody rolled his eyes; this Pokémon must be crazier than he was when he was an Aron in the flashback.

"Really?" Aang asked him hopefully. Cody, who had just leaped off of his shoulder, pleaded hard to God that it was true.

However, Bumi and Lairon looked as if they were thinking about the request that they just made. At last, King Bumi finally replied, "Well...not one of the deadly tests. The real challenges are much more challenging."

Cody looked around to see what Aang's reply was, startled to see the look on his face. He looked like he was going to kill someone...even though he hated to kill or hurt anyone. The AirBending Avatar quickly AirBended himself so that he ran quickly up to King Bumi. Even Lairon looked a little startled and, when Aang ran up to face King Bumi, he stepped back to avoid confrontation.

"I don't have time for your crazy games!" Aang snapped furiously. "Gimme my friends back! We're leaving!"

"Yeah!" Cody growled, getting into a Kung Fu position. "You don't wanna fight me! I don't fight fair! I scratch and I bite!"

But by the looks on the faces of King Bumi and Lairon, Cody suddenly found out too late that it was the wrong thing to say to them. The two crazy friends exchanged a look before turning back to face Aang and Cody.

"Oh, we thought you might refuse..."

A sudden sound made Cody turn around to the right, and what he saw next made him cringe with shock. At this moment, he saw why: a 'door' was opened by guards and several Claydol holding Totodile, Katara, and Sokka hostage in the corridor beyond. The guards put small rings on one of the humans' fingers, which contracted to fit snugly as soon as they were worn. Sokka and Katara tried to struggle to take off the rings, but they couldn't.

Cody growled when he saw Claydol lift Totodile into the air with a Psychic attack while another lifted one of those rings into the air. Very easily, they managed to fit it over the young Big Jaw Pokémon's tail while Totodile growled and lashed back and forth. The same thing happened to him with the ring growing a little around the tip of his tail. He got an orange crystal, Katara got a blue one, and Sokka got a green one.

"...so Lairon and I will give your friends some special souvenirs," Bumi told Aang and Cody. "Those delightful rings are made of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystal. It's crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. We can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

"Ahh! It's already creeping!" Sokka shouted. Cody was horrified to see that the ring was already growing. Bumi really had them trapped this time.

Cody looked back at Aang, whose dark gray eyes were downcast with defeat as he bowed to King Bumi. "We'll do as you want."

"And no tricks," Cody added, glaring at them with narrowed blue eyes.

Bumi nodded as he grinned wickedly. "Mmm!" he said while Lairon chuckled noisily. Bumi handed it a small green seed and the Iron Armor Pokémon gobbled it up in a few bites.

**...**

The first task was set in a cavern that was some distance away from the throne room. Aang and Cody were standing on a small stone parapet with a waterfall in the background. The big cavern floor was covered in stalagmites. In the upper left corner of the cavern, King Bumi, the guard, Lairon, and the prisoners were standing on a balcony. Crystal already covered the forearms of both humans while Totodile's legs were covered.

King Bumi and his Lairon laughed as Bumi said, "It seems I've lost my lunch box key and I'm hungry. Ooo, there it is," he added, pointing to somewhere else away from him. "Would you mind fetching it for me?"

"Yeah! I want my Crunchy Munchies!" Lairon demanded.

Cody and Aang looked up to where King Bumi and Lairon were pointing at: there was a small golden key hanging by a long chain in the middle of the waterfall. A ladder reached up from the ground of the cavern to about where the key dangled.

"He's gonna make us work for this, right?" Aang asked Cody.

Cody nodded. "Most likely. Sharp rocks at the bottom?"

Aang nodded. "Yep."

"...bring it on."

At that, he watched Aang jump into action. Using his superb AirBending skills, he bounced from stalagmite to stalagmite. He charged into the waterfall, holding his breath, and began to climb the ladder. The force of the water stopped him from making progress, though.

Meanwhile, Cody leaped into action also, spinning around on the spot in the air before launching a Thunderbolt at the key. However, the attack just launched itself back into the air and collided with a stalagmite.

"_Ooo_, climbing the ladder. No one's thought of that before," Bumi cackled while he and Lairon did a high-five.

Aang lost his grip on the ladder and was shot out from behind the waterfall. He was about to get impaled in the privates when he recovered in time and slid between two stalagmites, one foot on the side of each. He breathed a sigh of relief while Cody leaped onto a stalagmite above him and gave him a wink.

"Almost right in the batteries!" Totodile called out while the crystal covered his left hind leg.

Aang looked up at his friends and regained his resolve...and so did Cody. This time, the Avatar flew up to the stalactites on the ceiling and was soon looking down at the small key. Cody could see him concentrate, jump into the waterfall, and get shot right back out, managing to grab onto a stalagmite.

Cody took over by trying to climb the waterfall's ladder himself, but the rushing water shot him back out. To get a better grip on the stalagmites, Cody used an Iron Tail to break his fall and break away a part of it. With that done, he leapt onto the smooth surface on all fours and faced the waterfall, hissing in defiance.

King Bumi and the prisoners were still observing Aang and Cody do their task. The crystals were now covering the humans up to the shoulder while Totodile had his left leg nearly covered up.

And King Bumi chuckled, "That's right. Keep diving head in, I'm sure it'll work eventually."

Lairon growled, "Yeah! Good luck with getting around that yourselves! It's protected by a Light Screen!"

_Shoot!_ Cody snarled to himself, glaring up at Lairon. It was no wonder that his Thunderbolt shot itself back at him. But when he looked above him to see Aang's expression, he was amazed to see what was happening. The AirBender seemed to finally have an idea since his dark gray eyes widened with astonishment.

"Cody! Leap to this stalagmite and use Iron Tail! I'll knock the rest down with AirBending!" Aang called.

Cody nodded and leaped upwards to the hanging pointing rock with several Quick Attacks in a single row. The male Pikachu began hitting it hard with his Iron Tail while Aang broke off the top of the stalagmite he was holding and threw it at the chain holding the golden key. Using his AirBending skills, he made sure it broke the chain and carried the bottom part of it along with the key up to the balcony.

The tip of the stalagmite embedded itself like a spearhead into the top of the doorway. The key now dangled over the astonished King's head. Lairon gazed up at it with awe as his jaws parted in a jaw-dropping way.

Aang and Cody got back in time to see Bumi still holding their friends prisoner. Aang snapped angrily, "There, enjoy your lunch! I want my friends back, now!"

"Yeah! And remember: I scratch and I bite!" Cody added, getting into another Kung Fu position.

However, Bumi and Lairon chuckled while the King replied, "Uh, not yet. I need help with another matter. It seems I've lost my pet Flopsy."

**...**

The second task took place in a shallow arena where it could fit a couple of tigers fighting a few gladiators. Aang and Cody leaped down into the middle of it where a fluffy rabbit with ears as long as a snake was sitting on. So far, the mission seemed to be easy.

"Okay, found him!" Aang called out to Bumi.

Cody, however, was thinking something different. Unlike other Pikachu, he had a prey drive that let him hunt many times for mice, fish, birds, and rabbits. Others called him a cannibal for eating mice, but he said that the prey drive always made him cat-like. The looks on that rabbit made him drool as he reminded himself of his teeth sinking into rabbit meat...

"Bring him to me!" Bumi called from the top of the arena. "Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!"

Lairon called out, "Yeah! He's such a cute chibi bunny of doom!"

Cody just gave Lairon a dirty look, but he decided to say nothing about it. But before he could even touch the rabbit, something bigger landed right behind him; not wanting to look around, Cody turned around on the spot. In front of him was a big animal standing right behind him and Aang.

The animal had a quite murky white hide, with brown features on its face and forehead. Its face was relatively intimidating, composed of large green eyes, a striking nose, and a mouth with two tusks protruding upward. Two ivory horns extended from the creature's head, with two large ears dangling on the side. A single tuft of brown fur grew from the center of its back.

"Come here Flopsy!" Aang told the rabbit.

But Cody tapped him on the leg and muttered nervously, "Turn around."

So Aang turned around to face the monster while the rabbit squeaked and ran off. The outsized monster crushed a huge boulder in front of Aang and Cody. Aang flipped backwards and landed as the rabbit sprinted by him, squealing in terror.

Aang called out, "Flopsy, wait! Flopsy! Flopsy!"

"Run, Flopsy!" Cody called out to it. "Aang, on the count of three, run like a mad dog." When the monster got neared, Cody ran off and yowled, "THREE!"

"Wait! What happened to one and two?" Aang called back, but the monster was nearer now and let out a roar.

And so, Aang chased after the rabbit while the monster chased him and Cody around the arena. Cody glared up at King Bumi and Lairon, who were cackling maniacally. _I can't wait to sue this guy! _he told himself savagely.But he noticed that every time Aang called Flopsy's name, the big monster would follow the sound of his voice.

The rabbit ran into a rabbit hole in the wall of the arena while Aang slid up next to it and stuck his hand in the hole. While Cody thought that sticking hands in holes was risky, Aang groped around, but he found nothing. In the meantime, the monster closed in and Cody placed himself between Aang and the animal, arching his back and hissing defiance. But before a fight broke out, Cody turned to see Aang stand up and face the monster just as it arrived.

"Flopsy?"

To Cody's surprise, Cody saw the monster stop and let its tail wag a little like a dog greeting its owner. Then, Flopsy picked Aang up in his arms tenderly, making gentle noises. Aang was now surprised and started screaming while Cody rolled his eyes.

"Aang, it's all right! This IS Flopsy!"

He sighed with relief while Aang finally stopped when Flopsy gave him a huge lick. "Flopsy!" he cried with joy as he rubbed the Gorilla Goat on the head.

The Gorilla Goat dropped Aang to the ground and climbed up the wall like an Ariados climbing around its web for a juicy insect. King Bumi had been whistling and calling for his pet to come to him, Cody realized since he had clung onto him for a free ride out of the arena. Finally, he let go and started to walk away from the crazy king, looking over his shoulder to see what went on.

As Flopsy flopped down onto his back in front of his owner, Bumi cooed, "Awww, that's a good boy! Yes, who has a soft belly?" While he spoke, he reached out his hand and began rubbing the creature's belly while Lairon cheered for Flopsy.

Cody heard the rushing air billow out to him as Aang used AirBending to jump out of the arena and back with his human friends. Cody looked back at them and gasped with horror: Totodile's legs were completely covered with crystal up to his chest while Katara was covered from head to ankle in crystal. Cody had no idea about how to break them out, but doing an Iron Tail wouldn't do well, for he could hurt them by accident.

"Guys, are you okay?" Aang asked them.

Katara replied with a false cheery tone, "Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body, doing great!"

A thud made Aang, Katara, and Cody look behind them (with difficulty for Katara since she was nearly covered in crystal) at Sokka and Totodile. Sokka had the similar thing happening to him like the crystal was doing to his sister; when a new length grew on the left side of his head, he fell over with a thud.

Totodile pointed over at Bumi, who was finished rubbing Flopsy's belly, before that arm became covered in orange crystal. He gave Cody a terrified look that made him understand, so he nodded over to Aang, who was now speaking to Bumi.

"Come on. I'm ready for the next challenge!" Aang told him, looking severe.

All that Bumi did was laugh like a maniac.

**...**

The third and final task took place in an EarthBending arena. It was quite dim and mainly drab except for the dirt floor and some rocks. There were also two balconies, Aang and King Bumi on one, the prisoners, now encased in crystal except for their faces and feet, on the other. Cody and Lairon were with Aang and Bumi while Totodile's entire body, except for his face, was covered by crystal.

"Your final test is a duel, and as a special treat, you may choose your opponent," Bumi told Aang and Cody. To Cody, he added, "And you, my young rodent friend, may choose which Pokémon you'd like to battle. Now point and choose."

Two very enormous gladiator-type characters showed up to side up with King Bumi. The human on the left was a muscular man with a nasty smile and a huge axe while the human on the right was a mammoth fighter who looked like he relied only on brute strength. Cody flinched at this; Aang would never survive that long in a fight with either of those two as his opponent.

As for the Pokémon, they were tough. They were a Gigalith that looked great at dealing with physical defense and a Donphan that looked like it could never forget...to kill.

Aang looked terrified while Cody tried hard not to be scared. He had faced Pokémon tougher and bigger than these two Pokémon; he had battled Groudon, Rayquaza, Kyogre, Lugia, Ho-Oh, and even some Onix and Steelix. _These guys are just rookies,_ he reassured himself.

"So, you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?" Aang spoke up, clearly thinking hard.

Cody piped up, "And I get to battle the Pokémon I choose?"

Bumi nodded. "Choose wisely."

After a bit of thinking, Aang and Cody finally gave their answer.

"I...choose...you!" Aang cried out, pointing at King Bumi.

"And I choose you, Lairon!" Cody added, pointing his paw at the Steel/Rock type Pokémon.

But however, to Cody's horror, Lairon chuckled evilly while Bumi cackled, "Wrong choice!"

King Bumi, with some effort, corrected his lumped posture. He threw his robes to the side reveal a surprisingly muscular physical type for such an old man. He was clearly frightening and Aang recoiled, realizing his mistake. Cody backed away, looking very terrified and groaning inwardly. _Aang, out of all the guys you pick to fight, why him?_

The King was also apparently a master EarthBender, for he immediately stomped the ground, blowing Aang and Cody far out into the arena; then the two travelers landed in the dust. King Bumi and Lairon launched themselves off the balcony and landed close to Aang. The old king cackled evilly as he shouted, "It's playtime, Lairon!"

Then things turned from bad to worse when Lairon let out a roar and started to glow. Cody began to shiver as Lairon grew larger and stood easily on his hind legs, three horns coming out of his head and nose. A long thick tail grew from the short tail and slammed itself down to the ground, making some of the rocks shake.

Instead of Lairon, there was a massive Pokémon with thick gray-black armor and sky-blue eyes. It also had two horns coming from his head, a horn creating his upper jaw, and a nostril-like hole on the tip of his upper jaw. On the rim of his mouth were several pointed fang-like protrusions, and the nape of his neck and back had gray-colored armor sections.

"AGGRON!" the Pokémon roared, glaring at Cody through narrowed eyes.

Cody back away until he was up against Aang's leg, ready to fight. But he had no idea that their new opponents were King Bumi and his newly-evolved Aggron.

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

While Aggron advanced towards Cody and towered over him, the male Pikachu kept regretting choosing his foe so quickly. If he had chosen either Gigalith or Donphan, then things would have been easier. But he had to choose that Lairon, which had to evolve into an Aggron and be ready for battle.

As for Bumi himself, he was advancing towards Aang as he cackled, "You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful EarthBender you'll ever see."

"Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?" the Avatar asked him.

Cody piped up, "Yeah! I can take on that Donphan!"

But King Bumi shook his head as he replied, "There are no 'take-back-sees' in my kingdom! And I think you should've fed that Pikachu a Joy Seed before you let him battle Aggron. That's what I did for my Lairon! You might need this!"

When he heard that, Cody spat silently to himself. He had no idea that Aggron had eaten one of those seeds and he had almost forgotten what they do. A Joy Seed could increase a Pokémon's level by one while a Doom Seed would lower a Pokémon's level by one. And he and Totodile knew that a Life Seed could increase a Pokémon's stamina by five levels.

But he had no more time to think about this because King Bumi motioned to a guard, who threw Aang his staff. The Omashu King immediately launched several boulders at him, which Aang dodged. Cody, meanwhile, was caught off guard by Aggron's Dragon Claw attack, which tossed him away and made him hit a boulder.

While Cody slowly got to his paws, Bumi was telling Aang, "Typical AirBender tactic: avoid and evade. I'd hoped the Avatar would be less predictable."

"Yeah!" Aggron growled, leering at Cody. "Typical for a Pikachu: a weak little rodent! Don't tell me you barely reached level two!"

With a growl, Cody leaped forward and hit Aggron in the chest with an Iron Tail; the Iron Armor Pokémon's response was surprise when he himself was caught off guard. When Aggron slid back from the force of the attack, he grabbed Cody and tossed him away from him before letting out a roar. Cody charged back with a Quick Attack that hit Aggron in the chest, but it barely budged the Rock/Steel type Pokémon back.

Meanwhile, King Bumi launched another boulder at Aang, who dodged and launched himself into the air and dodging a Stone Edge from Aggron in the process. The Stone Edge was soon blocked by Cody's Thunderbolt, which crashed through the stones and caused them to rain down onto the arena. Cody glared through the cloud of dust as the pebbles fell around them, Aggron leering back with his eyes narrowed.

"Don't you have any surprises for me?" Bumi laughed towards Aang. "Sooner or later, you'll have to strike back."

At that, the King launched another stone at Aang, which missed but exploded upon impacting the ceiling of the arena. The wreckage knocked Aang to the ground and he lost his staff as he fell. He got back up as King Bumi began walking around; Cody thought that he was just showing off, but then he realized that Bumi was actually EarthBending.

With each turn, he made a huge pillar of rock block Aang's pathway. One of them caught the AirBender in the stomach as it rose into the air. When Cody looked on in horror, Aggron took the chance to use an Iron Tail attack on him while he countered with his own. But while this went on, Cody got slashed by another Dragon Claw and he fell to the stony floor, his forehead bleeding.

Bumi laughed. "Oh, you'll have to be a little more creative than that!"

"I...think...we can..." Cody grunted as he slowly rose to his paws and glared up at Aggron. The large Steel/Rock type Pokémon was leering down at him with narrowed blue eyes and his crazy look was no longer lingering in the narrowed blue orbs.

Aang jumped off the pillar, riding one of his famous AirBalls. He rode the wall of the arena and approached the King from his right. He launched a huge strong wind at his foe, who blocked it with a sheet of stone raised from the floor of the arena. Cody, meanwhile, finally used a powerful Thunderbolt attack to paralyze Aggron and it worked. The large Pokémon let out a roar of rage as he became constricted with paralysis.

Suddenly, to Aang and Cody's confusion, Bumi poked his head out from behind the stone wall, an insane smile spread across his old face. "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here!" But then he suddenly dropped his smile and leered at them as he added, "Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"

To Cody's horror, Aggron pulled out a small red berry with a small seed and ate them. Straight away, Aggron was cured...and quick in speed thanks to the Quick Seed. After knocking Cody away with a Stone Edge attack, he growled, "Aww, what's wrong, little guy? Not quick enough to strike back?"

Cody remembered that he could use Agility and quickly used it to make himself a little bit faster than his foe. Quickly he launched another Thunderbolt at it again while Aggron countered with Hyper Beam. The dust from the two attacks surrounded the arena so that the prisoners, Aang, and Bumi couldn't see them.

Back to the humans, Aang was dropping off his AirBall while King Bumi kicked over the stone sheet and began to raise it on earth dug out of the arena's surface. He shot the earth underneath the stone at Aang, which knocked him over. The King struck the ground with his fist, sending a shock wave through the arena surface right at Aang. The Avatar flipped backwards and avoided the shock wave, but now he was close to the rear wall of the arena.

Recovering from his attack, Cody, weak from the Hyper Beam, rose to his feet while Aggron struggled to see the male Pikachu rise to his paws. After a few seconds of glaring at one another, Aggron let out a growl and finally fell to the ground with a thud, defeated. Cody had beaten the large creature with a lot of power.

"You...did well..." he rumbled.

Cody smiled back weakly. "You too..."

"How are you going to going to get me from way over there?" Bumi's voice made them turn around to finally see the battle between Aang and the King.

Aang looked very determined and began to run towards his opponent. Quickly, Bumi used the side of his foot to dash the earth. The ground around Aang became quicksand and he fell in. The King raised two large boulders and sent them to smash the struggling Aang. He escaped just in time as the rocks smashed together.

The AirBender jumped straight at his opponent, unleashing a blast of wind that knocked him and the stone sheet he stood upon back against the wall of the arena. The King of Omashu raised one of the boulders from where he had just failed to squash Aang and pulled it back towards him at frightening speed. The Avatar saw it just in time and does a backflip that barely allowed him to get up and over the flying boulder. The boulder, of course, moved on to almost crush the King, but he broke it into many pieces as it reached him.

"That Avatar sure is powerful," Aggron remarked while he and Cody were being healed by a few Chansey.

"Yeah..." Cody replied.

With tremendous effort, King Bumi tore the entire gate area of the arena out of the ground and held it over his head. Aang screamed in terror and began to run in circles, creating a tornado. The King threw the massive earth mound at him, but the tornado grabbed it and threw it back at him with the force of a charging Steelix. As it reached King Bumi, he sliced it neatly in two.

"See? He's a powerful AirBender," Cody groaned with pain as another Chansey spread some dressing onto his forehead.

"Not to mention Bumi being a great EarthBender," Aggron replied gruffly.

Back at the battle, Aang appeared between the rock pieces and pinned the King with his staff. Cody was certain that he would win for sure until the King smiled and looked up. Aang and the two Pokémon also looked up as a little piece of rock bounced off of the Avatar's head. Overhead hovered one of the two halves of rock, ready to crush them both.

Afraid for his friend's life, Cody weakly got up and slowly limped over to Aang while ignoring the Chansey telling him to get back and recover. When he got there, he put himself in between Aang and Bumi. He gave the King a look that meant _If you try and hurt him again, you'll have to hurt me too._

Seeing the look on the Pikachu's face, Bumi gave a senile laugh before turning to speak to Aang. "Hehe! Well done, Avatar. You and your Pikachu fight with much fire in your hearts."

Then the King finally threw the rock to the other side of the stadium. He fell backwards into the floor, disappearing and leaving a Bumi shaped hole. Aang and Cody looked flabbergasted until he had appeared beside Aggron, picked him up with pure ease, and disappeared into the ground again.

Aang carefully picked Cody up until he settled well on his shoulders, and then he began to use his staff like a helicopter and fly right back up to the prisoners' balcony. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the floor of the veranda and the King emerged while holding his Aggron in the air. The hole began closing immediately beneath them when they arrived.

Cody looked back to see the two humans and Totodile, but then he did a double-take towards Totodile in horror. He was nearly almost covered completely by orange crystals except for his jaws; meanwhile, Katara and Sokka looked a little bit the same as they did in the last challenge.

"Buddy? You okay?" Cody asked him.

Totodile's only reply was "...yeah..."

Cody and Aang turned back to Bumi and Aggron, who were now right in front of them. The King chuckled and replied, "You've passed all our tests. Now, you must answer one question."

_WHAT? _Cody thought angrily, furious at this. He and Aang had nearly killed themselves over a lot of tasks to be completed and this was what their reward was: yet another test. This was even more unfair than some of the training at the Wigglytuff Guild, the place where Treecko and Chimchar trained before graduating.

"That's not fair!" Aang snapped while Cody growled. "You said you would release our friends if Cody and I finished your tests!"

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" Bumi cackled.

Sokka let out a grumble, which made Aggron walk over to him and tip him over. Laughing at that, he stomped back to Bumi, who was still talking to Cody and Aang.

"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free," Bumi calmly told the two travelers. "What...is my name?"

But Cody and Aang didn't have a ready answer for this, so Bumi said, "From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes."

At that, he and Aggron left.

When those two were gone, Aang walked over to his friends (with Cody careful not to leap onto Katara's shoulder in case he tipped her over) and asked, "How are we supposed to know his name?"

"Think about the challenges. Maybe it's some kind of riddle," Katara told him.

"I got it!" Sokka suddenly shouted, making the other members of the Rescue Team turn around to face him. "He's an EarthBender, right? Rocky!" But they just stared at him as if he had just taken a bath in slime. Sokka defended himself by saying, "You know, because of all the rocks?"

There was some more silence that hung around them. Cody let out another cough to show that he thought that it was quite an old joke. But he also knew that Shiftry, the Rescue Team Shifty leader, was a far better joker than him, able to cook up a better punch line.

Finally, after that part of silence, Katara finally told her brother, "We're gonna keep trying, but that is a good backup."

"To me, eh...not really," Cody said. "In fact, that's a lamer joke than the one that Gengar made up. Something about SpongeBob."

Totodile muttered something quickly before a little bit more of his snout was getting covered up by the crystal. Now he could only make little mumbling sounds and shake his body a little if he wanted to speak. Cody was afraid that they were going to be too late.

"Okay, so back to the challenges," Aang told Cody, making sure he stayed on the right track. To his friends, he said, "We got a key from the waterfall, we saved his pet, and we had a duel."

"And what did you and Cody learn?" Katara asked in reply.

Aang thought this over as he said, "Well, everything was different than we expected."

Cody watched in horror as a new crystal grew right to Katara's cheek and pressed up against it. "And...?" she asked her friend testily.

"Well, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, we had to think differently than we usually would." Aang said. Cody knew what his name was, but he didn't say this to Aang until he saw realization sweeping over his features. Finally, the Avatar exclaimed, "I know his name!"

"Well, Totodile and I knew all along," Cody piped up.

Aang gasped at him. "What? Why didn't you say so?"

Cody growled back, "Because you didn't let me tell you guys. Boy, it's like everyone's an idiot today!"

**...**

The five members of Rescue Team Avatar had made it back to the King's throne room, where Aggron was showing Bumi his new Dragon Claw attack; plus, Bumi was dressed up once again in his royal robes. Aang said something to get their attention, but they didn't pay attention to him at first. Sighing, Cody decided to help him out.

"YO! Iron Ore over here!" he called out.

"Iron Ore?" Aggron turned around on the spot and immediately rushed to the spot, jumping up and down while making the room tremble a little. "Where? Where? Where?"

Cody replied, "You'll get your Iron Ore after the Avatar tells your king something. Plus, my friend wants to talk to you, Your Majesty," he added, turning to face Bumi.

The old king nodded and came forward to the spot before standing right in front of Aang a few steps away.

The Avatar began speaking as calmly yet as excitedly as he could. "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities."

At this, King Bumi began to laugh and snort, just as his younger version had in the flashback that Cody and Totodile saw. Aang smiled and told him, "Bumi, you're a mad genius!" before running over to him and hugging the old King.

"Oh, Aang. It's good to see you," Bumi rasped with joy. "You haven't changed a bit. Literally!"

"Good to see ya again, buddy!" Aggron greeted Aang, coming over to him and clapping a large clawed hand on his shoulder. "You remember me?"

Aang did a double-take at the large Pokémon and asked him, "...Aron?"

Aggron roared with happiness and began cuddling with him; for such a large Pokémon, he could really act like a dog meeting its owner after a long time. But Cody didn't say anything to spoil this moment. He just wanted them to enjoy this moment together.

"Uh, over here!" Cody turned around to see that Katara was almost covered in blue crystals except for her face.

"Little help?" Sokka spoke up, for his mouth was the only thing visible about him.

But Totodile only shook in his orange crystallized prison, unable to talk.

Bumi and Aggron gave a nervous chuckle to one another before Bumi made a pulling motion with a fist, shattering the crystal from around both Water Tribe siblings. Crystal flew all over and King Bumi caught a piece as quick as a shark attack.

Aggron, meanwhile, stomped over to Totodile, raised his large heavy tail, and slammed it down hard onto the orange crystal. Cody was afraid that Totodile would be crushed, but when the crystal cocoon cracked open like an egg, his friend crawled out of it while panting for breath.

"It was horrible in there!" Totodile gasped, crawling over to Cody and clinging onto his tail. Then he thought for a moment before saying, "Although it wasn't as bad as the time when I went through puberty."

"It's good to have you back, buddy," Cody purred, giving his friend a high-five.

When Totodile finished his speech, they turned back to Bumi, who was telling the other three humans, "Genemite is made of rock candy." He took a bite and said, "Delicious!"

Then Aggron spoke up, "Normally, rock candy can hurt your teeth if you just bite it, not lick it. But as for me, there's no problem for me!" He picked up the orange crystal cocoon and began to eat it like a starving hyena, roaring, "Whenever I eat a crystallized rock candy cocoon, it makes me wanna go to the top of a mountain and sing! ...but not really."

"So this crazy king is your old friend, Bumi?" Katara asked Aang with amazement.

"Who you calling old?" Bumi growled, glaring at her. But after he paused, he dropped the glare and confessed, "Okay. I'm old. And so is Aggron!"

Aggron, meanwhile, playfully punched Bumi on the shoulder. Cody wasn't that surprised that the king didn't keel down to the ground in pain.

Then Sokka asked Bumi, "Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?"

King Bumi turned to face him and answered his question. "First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people, heh-heh!" He snorted with laugher before adding seriously, "But I do have a reason."

"Yeah, I bet," Totodile muttered; clearly, he hadn't forgiven the king as much as Cody already had.

King Bumi just ignored the short blue crocodile. Turning to Aang, he began, "Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and his Legendary Pokémon. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord, and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius!"

The Avatar smiled at Bumi, clasped his hands together in thanks, and bowed to his old friend. Cody sniffed a little with joy, leaped onto Katara's shoulder, and mentioned for Totodile to join in. So the Big Jaw Pokémon did so...only reluctantly.

"And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends and their Pokémon also to help defeat the Fire Nation." Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder, making Bumi laugh, "And you'll need Momo too."

Aggron smiled. "Yeah. We're countin' on ya, Aang! Plus, I got a present for ya." He reached behind his back and brought out a rat skeleton. As everyone, excluding Bumi, gasped at this, he frowned down at it and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot. Rats need food and water, not metal, right?"

Aang gave an embarrassed bow to the Steel/Rock type Pokémon also before turning to Bumi. "Thank you for your wisdom. But before we leave...I have a challenge for you!" he added with a sly smile on his face.

Bumi gave him his signature crazy smile and Cody now knew what was going to happen.

**...**

"Looks like things never DO change, huh?" Cody asked Katara while Sokka and Totodile went away to get something to eat; both the WaterBender and her Pokémon friend had wanted to see Aang and Bumi challenge each other before they leave.

Katara smiled at him and said, "True that," before turning back to the chutes.

The young male Pikachu followed her gaze; a moment later a delivery bin flew by, King Bumi at the front and Aang in the back. Both were having a blast as the air rushed by them. Another bin flew by with Aggron roaring with a crazed laughter in his sky blue eyes as he rode after them. The Steel/Rock type looked like he was using his Stone Edge attack to boost himself forward.

While this went on, Cody and Katara heard a familiar voice wail with anguish:

"MY CABBAGES!"

Cody gave a purr of amusement and rubbed his furry red cheek to Katara's soft cheek while she ruffled his head fur with her hand.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: Before we salute, I'll go ahead and say the review thing. Those who review this story and this chapter will get a plush doll of Aang with a balloon that says "Happy 7****th**** Anniversary, Avatar!" Constructive criticism is allowed, but please don't make it too harsh. And flames will NOT be allowed on there; they'll be put out with WaterBending.**

**Now here's the preview for Loyalty.**

**Preview: This is a small collection of two stories that show how Cody and Totodile become loyal to Katara and Sokka. From bullies to rivers, nothing can stop them from being loyal.**

**See ya next time! (Salutes towards a Team Avatar poster) And Long Live Avatar: The Last AirBender!**


	8. Loyalty

**AvatarCat12: I've got something to say. After this chapter, there's just gonna be two more chapters until we got to where we left off. And after the tenth chapter is set up, I'll continue the story starting at one of the AMD forms of the comics.**

**Anyways, this chapter is based off of Call Of The Wild from Jack London. Several parts of the book had Buck defending his master from a big bully and rescuing him from raging river. Except that John Thorton wasn't looking for berries; he was diggin' for gold!**

**But enough of that, okay? Let's go on with the disclaimer and the other stuff.**

**Disclaimer: Pokémon and Avatar: The Last AirBender do not belong to me. Never have, and never will.**

**Summary: This is a small collection of two stories that show how Cody and Totodile become loyal to Katara and Sokka. From bullies to rivers, nothing can stop them from being loyal.**

**Uploading Date: March 12, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_Loyalty_

_**The Tale of Katara and Cody**_

The three humans and the two Pokémon had arrived at a small town because they needed more supplies for their trip. As soon as they landed, Cody and Totodile had raced off to find some new place to explore; Katara felt a little jealous of them about that because she wanted to go explore with them also. But she was also happy she got to explore with Cody

As Katara was packing up some supplies, Cody leaped onto her shoulder and asked her, "Hey, Katara. Can I help you in any way?"

"Actually...yes, you may," the Water Tribe girl replied warmly. "If you can, would you lift some of this stuff onto Appa's saddle? We can't stay around here for too long."

"Gotcha," Cody replied.

After he winked her, he helped her by lifting some of the weight onto his back. Katara helped him by carrying the heavier stuff since she was taller than him, but the male Pikachu seemed to possess a lot of strength for a Pikachu. She was amazed how strong he was despite being a small Pokémon.

_It probably has something to do with all of that training,_ she thought to herself.

Right before she could lift another load onto the saddle, a voice made her turn around: "Need some help?"

Katara looked around to see a young Ivysaur staring up at her with curiosity in his red eyes. She still didn't know much of other Pokémon except for several Water type and Ice type Pokémon except for Mamoswine or Dewgong. Still, it felt great to see other Pokémon each day instead of the same one over and over.

"Um...no thanks," Katara told him politely. "Cody and I can handle this."

"Cody, did you say? You mean THE Cody the Pikachu?" Ivysaur gasped.

When Cody nodded, the Grass/Poison type Pokémon let out a gasp of excitement and yelped, "I heard of you! You defeated Groudon to save A.C.T. _and_ defeated Primal Dialga to save the whole world! So can I have your autograph?"

Katara was amazed at what she had heard. Cody himself, a small Pikachu, had defeated two very powerful Pokémon that were supposedly only legends. Totodile must have helped him in that way, and it seemed like Cody was a Pokémon Avatar to other Pokémon.

But right before Cody could replu, some townsfolk arrived and cried, "Avatar Aang! We need your help!"

"What is it?"

Aang had suddenly appeared with an armful of supplies, Sokka and Totodile right by his side. The young AirBending Avatar had a worried look in his dark gray eyes, and Katara could tell that he remembered the incident at Kyoshi Island. There, Aang had realized that he could not escape his destiny.

"There's a group of bullies harassing a group of women and their children. They call themselves the Bigot Bunch," the town's chief replied in return. "They could hurt someone else if someone doesn't do something. Please help us!"

Aang looked at his friends, and the two Pokémon nodded instantly while Katara felt that there could be a trap around the corner. Sokka had also thought the same thing by saying, "I don't think we can. We gotta keep moving."

That made Aang, Katara, and Cody give him a weird look, and the Water Tribe warrior defended himself by saying, "What? We can't stop for every pit stop along the way!"

But Totodile shrugged him off and said, "Are you crazy, man? We're not gonna let those bullies hurt anyone else! I say we go!"

Aang gave Sokka a formal nod while Katara gave her brother the big eyes that would make him agree with his little sister. Totodile and Cody laughed to one another about what the Water Tribe girl was doing, but they quieted down when Sokka glared at them.

"Fine," Sokka muttered and jumped down from Appa's saddle where he was putting the supplies at. "But if we get hurt, don't blame me!"

He got out his machete and his boomerang while Aang had his AirBending staff out and ready for any peacemaking. While she watched this, Katara felt a little green with envy; she did have WaterBending skills, but she wanted to make them into battle moves. This made her think of memories about her family at the Southern Water Tribe.

Hakoda and his Buizel had indeed tried to search for a WaterBending mentor for Katara once they saw her WaterBend for the first time. But there were no WaterBenders ever since her Gran-Gran was a young girl. And the Pokémon were reluctant to teach a little girl at such an early age. Besides, Katara had been hoping she could get her own Pokémon one day; Cody wasn't a Water type, but he would have to do.

Giving each other nods, Rescue Team Avatar left Momo behind where Appa was hiding and walked off with the villagers to the town. Ivysaur was watching them go as he casually picked some Oran berries from the bushes and gave them to Appa and Momo.

**...**

When the travelers had arrived at the town square, there was a big mess right in the middle. The statue in the middle of the square had been trashed and flattened in places where it was falling apart. Boxes of marketed goods were thrown everywhere, houses had their windows smashed, and graffiti was all over the walls.

Katara felt a hot rush of fury enter her and felt her fists tighten at this insolent mess. Whoever this bunch of crooks was, they had gone too far with their misdeeds and they had to be stopped. Totodile and Sokka had went off to try and find some more messes around to investigate deeper. In the meantime, she, Aang, and Cody had stayed in the square to find the criminals.

"Let me go, you big bully!"

"Why, little female? We're just getting started!"

Katara gasped with shock and anger as he noticed a large beefy man with black hair and dark brown eyes carrying a little girl by the throat into the edges of the square. The little girl was no more than eight years old with black hair and green eyes with ragged brown clothes. Then the man swung the girl around and threw her at the statue, blood dripping from a wound on her arm as she collided with the statue, screaming in pain.

As the man stalked towards her aggressively, Aang leaped into the way and used an AirBending move to blast him away a little. But the bad news was that this guy was at huge as a Snorlax and he was even more aggressive.

"What the heck are you doing, kid?" the man snarled at the Avatar. "I could've ended her!"

"You won't kill her while I'm here," Aang retorted calmly. "Get out of here right now."

But the man didn't move an inch and he certainly didn't seem to want to leave. Looking back at his approaching comrades, he turned back around and sneered, "Who are you to tell us when to leave? Unless you wanna look for some trouble, that is!"

As Aang flinched, Katara felt that taunting Aang and hurting the little girl was too much to bear. Stepping in between them, she snapped back at him, "What you're doing is wrong! And don't go yelling at Aang just because you feel like it!"

"Shut up, female. Your stupid gender aren't allowed to speak!" the man snarled at her, shoving Aang aside and stalking over to her. Behind Katara, Cody was glaring at him with narrowed blue eyes and his yellow fur was crackling with voltage. The man got to her and went on, "You best not be telling me and my boys what to do. In our gang, girls ain't allowed to speak at all."

"But we're not part of your stupid gang!" Katara snarled, shoving her face up to his and feeling herself get angrier at the moment. "So just do yourselves a favor, leave this town, and go shove a fish down each of your throats, you sexist pigs!"

SMACK!

Katara had just seen the man pull back his hand, and she felt his large hand slap her very hard on the cheek. She looked back up at him to glare at him, but he ended up slapping her other cheek in reply. Both slaps were so hard that blood started to trickle out of her mouth. The man ended up punching her in the belly and making her go down on her knees down to the ground in front of him. Then the man kicked her down onto her side and raised his foot, ready to crush her.

The Water Tribe girl tried to raise herself onto her feet, coughing up blood in the process. She would not go down without a fight, but she had to admit that the man was too strong for her to fight. Katara even tried to take a swipe at his ankles with her nails, but the man kicked the hand hard, making it ache hard. Realizing there was no other way to attack, she laid on the ground, preparing for the final blow.

But suddenly, an amazing thing happened.

Those watching this entire scene heard what was neither a squeak of a mouse or a regular "Pika pika" of a normal Pikachu; what they did hear was a loud demonic screech like a cat. Katara saw Cody leap off her shoulder and leap straight for the bully, snarling furiously and electrical energy surrounding his fur. As Cody's tail began to glow silver, Katara realized that this was perhaps the second time Cody had saved her life.

The large man, looking dominant and sneering recently, looked very frightened now as he raised his arm to defend his face. Cody let out a cat-like screech and slammed his Iron Tail attack down on the man's arm, a crack in there that made Katara wince a little. The man tried to do the same thing again with the other arm, but the male Pikachu repeated the trick, so the man had nothing to protect his face.

Cody let out a screech as he fired a Thunderbolt at him and made him paralyzed, making him fall to the ground. As soon as the big brawny man fell to the ground, Cody leaped on top of him and began clawing at his face and biting at his nose. Katara slowly and weakly raised herself onto her feet as Aang had come over to help, since he had been paralyzed for a few minutes.

Instantly, feeling that Cody had enough with thrashing the bully, the crowd was upon the male Pikachu and pulled him off of the bully. But when he was pulled off, Cody let out another growl and ran right for the other gang members. As they watched Cody run at them, the gang members screamed like little girls and ran out of town.

Weakly, Katara turned to see Sokka rush to her and hug her tightly, murmuring, "It's okay, sis. It's okay." To the townspeople, he asked, "What happened?"

"Well," the local healer told him while he and Totodile treated the little girl's injuries, "your sister and the Avatar stood up to the leader of that gang. When your sister stood up to that man, he began beating her up. But it's thanks to that Pikachu of hers that those bullies are out of town for good!"

"Is...is that true? Cody drove out a gang of bullies all by himself?" Sokka asked Katara.

She nodded and was about to say something, but she stopped and coughed up a bit more blood.

Her brother carefully wiped her mouth with a cloth and replied, "That's some good news, but we gotta find you some help first."

Aang told Sokka and Totodile about the entire tale while the doctor and his Ivysaur seen earlier were helping Katara and the little girl recover from their wounds. Also, the Bigot Bunch leader was arrested by two Growlithe for hitting females and child abuse. When the man had snarled at Katara that he would come back for her again, Cody growled at him, making him whimper as he was led away.

Plus, Ivysaur had helped Cody clean out the blood and dirt from around his claws. After that, the Seed Pokémon asked Cody again for an autograph. And he got it, all right.

Ivysaur opened up a geography book and looked at the autograph: _"Hope you make your own dreams come alive! From, Cody."_ To the male Pikachu, he said with a huge smile on his face, "T-thank you, Cody..."

"No problem."

Looking over towards Katara, Cody walked up to her, leaped onto her lap, and leaned upwards to her face, nuzzling her cheek with his muzzle. She, in response, hugged him tightly as the doctor continued to heal her wounds.

"Cody...thank you for saving me and Aang..." Katara rasped. "You're the bravest Pikachu I have ever met."

"Hey, no problem," Cody replied to her softly. "I'd do anything for you. You know that."

Katara gave her Pikachu rescuer a weak smile before clinging tighter to him.

**...**

_**The Tale of Sokka and Totodile**_

Sokka watched as Totodile leaned over by the rushing river and carefully scooped some water up in a canteen; it was just a day after the Bigot Bunch had fled from the town. The Water Tribe teenager was hoping that the Water type Pokémon would use it for drinking water, but the next thing made him groan. Totodile had gotten the water into his canteen just to water the plants.

"What?" Totodile defended himself when Sokka gave him a weird look. "Plants get thirsty too!"

"He's right, Sokka." Aang had just joined Totodile by grabbing the crocodile-like Pokémon and lifting him into the sky, watering the higher plants on the high cliffs. When they came back to the ground, the Avatar added, "Don't forget: plants are important, too."

Sokka had no choice but to sigh. He wasn't interested in plants right at the moment. Besides, he really liked to eat meat, and he wasn't sure if any fruit or vegetable would agree with him.

He looked over to see Cody offer Katara a Pecha Berry to try out; Sokka had heard that Pokémon ate berries not only to solve status problems, but they also tasted good. Feeling a need to just try a berry, he walked away from Aang and Totodile and began searching for a berry along the rapid river. That way, he could find the tastiest one and prove that he himself could also like berries.

But so far, he had found nothing much. In fact, he did see something on a bush that looked like a berry, but it wasn't. It was a female Cherubi who snapped at him for mistaking her for a berry. Sokka muttered a quick apology before going off again. He didn't get away unscathed, however; a Cherrim that was guarding her kept slapping him on the face until he was out of its territory.

Soon, as he walked around some more, he found the berries. They were hanging right above the river by a hanging branch, and they were spiky and red. Sokka muttered, "I found these berries, all right. But how do I get them?"

Taking a step backward, Sokka backed up until he was right up against a large birch tree. Then he let out his famous war cry and ran forward, jumping off of the ledge and right for the berries. He was amazed that he made it this far; the rest of the plan...he would have to figure that himself.

So Sokka quickly grabbed some berries as hard as he could, trying to climb up towards them. With a free hand, he tried to swipe it at a branch connecting to the berries, but it was a bit out of reach. But now, he found himself in another accident: he was fixing to fall into the river.

"Um...I can use some help here!" Sokka called out to no one, but nothing answered. The only thing that did answer him was the rushing water below him and it seemed to be inviting him to his death.

Quickly, he tried to climb up the branch while taking a few of the prickly red berries with him; they didn't feel that spiky in his hand. Then Sokka tried to climb up higher, but a weak creak told him what the bad news was: the branch was going to crack. But right when he thought that things couldn't get worse, the branch cracked and he fell into the river below, feeling the water soak him right to the skin and pushing him this way and that.

"Aw come on!" Sokka wailed, flailing his arms about. "Aren't I good enough to get beat up instead of drowning?"

"Hold still!"

A familiar voice made Sokka turn around to see Totodile grabbing onto him, the hood of his parka in the Big Jaw Pokémon's teeth. Totodile had been walking around with Cody and the two Pokémon had seen Sokka in danger. Cody went back to camp to get help from Aang and Katara while Totodile jumped in and swam against the rough current to his teammate.

"Totodile! Where'd you come from?" Sokka asked him with relief.

Totodile just growled, "Never mind, you idiot! We gotta get out of this current!" With a grunt of power, the Water type Pokémon released the wood he was clinging to, and the two of them were now being swept through the river downstream. "Now swim! Just...I don't know...splash about or something!"

Sokka didn't want to infuriate Totodile any further, and he didn't want to risk a bite to the head, so he began flailing in the water and tried his best to keep his head above the water. Totodile's short tail was thrashing to and fro with an effort to swim harder. At one point, when they clung onto the nearest tree log near the shore, Totodile swam underneath Sokka and hauled him onto the log.

But regrettably, the log broke off from two rocks pinning it down, and the log carried Sokka and Totodile farther downstream. And when they tried to paddle through the current to shore, they saw the first thing that made their hearts stop with horror: a waterfall. They were now far away from shore.

"YYYYAAAAHHHH!" Both Sokka and Totodile cried as they clung to each other and fell from the top of the waterfall.

"Sokka! I gotta tell ya something before we die!" Totodile screamed.

Sokka turned to him and asked loudly, "What is it?"

Totodile leaned in closer to him until their faces were nearly touching as they fell down faster to the bottom of the waterfall. "Sokka...I BLAME YOU, YOU BOOB!" he roared as he started using Ice Punch on him. Sokka, in return, started to fight back at him also, and soon enough, the two of them were fighting with their slap-fights while falling.

A loud roar made them stop their fighting, and they looked down with relief. Appa had at long last flown down beneath them while Aang, Katara, and Cody were looking up at them with relief and dismay mixed in their eyes. Momo was there also, flying beside Appa and chattering.

Giving each other a nod, Sokka and Totodile leaped off the log falling toward Appa and landed on the saddle as softly as a Wurmple falling onto soft moss. Once they landed on the saddle, they didn't start fighting again. Instead, Sokka had pulled out some of the red spiky berries he picked from the cracking branch.

Cody looked outraged. "I can't believe you! Totodile risked his life to help you, and you put him and yourself into danger just because of Tomato berries?"

"Oh, don't worry," Katara told him, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "You told me what Tomato berries can do to your mouth, right?"

"I get it," Totodile spoke up, looking amused also.

Sokka just ignored them and bit into one of the red spiky Tomato Berries. But as he did just that, his mouth felt that it was on fire and he was now panting like a hot dog. Straight away, Totodile let loose a Water Gun and completely cooled him down, the hot taste melting away from his taste buds.

"I get it." Aang had joined up with them and sat down with his legs folded out at either side of him. "Those Tomato Berries make your mouth go hot like Fire Flakes, right?"

Totodile and Cody gave each other puzzled looks as they asked him, "What are Fire Flakes?"

Aang beckoned the two Pokémon forward and started telling them about Fire Flakes and the other foods of the four nations. Sokka and Katara watched them with nostalgia in their Water Tribe blue eyes.

Sokka couldn't believe the events that happened over the past two days. First, Cody had saved Katara from the Bigot Bunch leader by beating him up. And second, just a few minutes ago, he was saved by Totodile and decided to give him all the Tomato Berries.

_I'm not gonna touch another Tomato Berry ever again!_

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: I'm sorry if I haven't uploaded in a while. And I WAS gonna put in the WaterBending War chapter, but that's another story. Well actually, I'm gonna put that chapter up after the chapter where I left off on the original.**

**But anyways, it's time to do the review thing. Those of you who want to review, go ahead and click the review button. Those who DO review will get a virtual Pikachu plush doll with a green shamrock on its belly. I allow constructive criticism on here, but just as long as it's not harsh. And flames are NOT allowed on here.**

**Here's the preview for Imprisoned.**

**Preview: Rescue Team Avatar arrives at a village where the Fire Nation has taken over. In the meantime, Cody and Katara help out a young man who had lost his father to the Fire Nation.**

**See ya next time!**


	9. Imprisoned

**AvatarCat12: Hey, I'm back again. Sorry if I haven't uploaded any stories; I've just been distracted lately. So everything cool? Good!**

**Anyways, after this chapter and the next, I think we'll start off from where we left off. And we'll add some chapters between the episodes. It's kinda like The Lost Adventures...which I will also add in between the chapters. Kataang and Pikatara added. Let's go on with the disclaimer and other stuff.**

**Disclaimer: Pokémon and Avatar: The Last AirBender don't belong to me. Not at all.**

**Summary: Rescue Team Avatar arrives at a village where the Fire Nation has taken over. In the meantime, Cody and Katara help out a young man who had lost his father to the Fire Nation.**

**Uploading Date: March 25, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_Imprisoned_

It was quite a while after Cody, Totodile, and the three humans left Omashu to continue their trip to the Northern Water Tribe. After the incident with the sexist gang, Cody never let Katara out of his sight, except when she needed to do any private business. In the two Pokémon's adventure, things had been excited and a bit crazy. But they had wanted to go onto some good adventures, so this was what they liked.

Now they were in a forest while sitting on top of a natural stone courtyard with a stream going underneath it. Katara was folding her sleeping bag, Aang was lying back in the exposed roots of an overturned tree, and Cody and Totodile were playing Liar's Dice (a game from Red Dead Redemption, though it may be real). They had asked the humans if they wanted to play, but they politely refused.

"Fine. Take my darn die!" Totodile growled cheerfully as he lost a die.

Cody got up and cheered, "All right! Hand it over!"

But a rustle in the bushes nearby made Cody get into a defensive battle position while Totodile did the same by preparing an Ice Punch attack. But they finally relaxed when they saw that it was only Sokka returning with a bag. Totodile had skipped out of helping him because he wanted to help guard the camp, but Cody figured that he had other reasons.

As soon as the Water Tribe warrior returned, Aang sat up quickly and said, "Great, you're back! What's for dinner?"

Totodile walked forward and said, "Yeah. My belly's barking at me."

"We've got a few options," Sokka explained as he dug into the bag. "First, round nuts and some kind of oval shaped nuts, and some rock shaped nuts that..." He took a "nut" out and tossed it over his shoulder "...might just be rocks. Dig in!"

Cody watched as the "nut" landed right next to Momo; the winged lemur looked over at it with interest. Then he exchanged looks with Totodile before turning to see Aang and Katara exchange looks before turning back to Sokka.

"Seriously, what else ya got?" Katara asked her brother.

As Sokka looked into the bag in hope of finding something else, Totodile muttered, "There's nothing else in there, isn't there?"

"I think Totodile's right," Cody piped up. "Plus, you're not fooling me. Not like the time I was convinced to buy that pet Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Totodile gaped at him. "You bought a Tyrannosaurus?"

Cody shook his head. "Nah. It's to keep the comedy going."

Meanwhile, Momo was eyeing the nut-like object with suspicion. He chittered a few times and picked it up, tapping it on a nearby stone to no effect. The he cocked back a little and rapped it hard on the stone. Cody and Totodile exchanged sly grins; usually, they could see from animal shows on T.V. that apes and other primates could use their environment as a tool.

At that moment, a loud and very startling noise interrupted the forest's calm. The group and Appa, who was resting right behind the team, looked around to see what was making that noise. The obvious choice was that it was a small earthquake.

"What was that?" Sokka yelped in fear.

"Either something big this way comes, or it's an earthquake," Cody told him.

Momo looked around at Sokka before turning back to the nut-like thing, blinking a few times. He dropped the nut onto the stone, and another loud sound echoed throughout the forest, startling the little lemur again. He jumped away and leaped onto Aang's shoulder, chattering fearfully.

As Rescue Team Avatar looked around, Aang pointed to somewhere else and said, "It's coming from over there!"

Aang and Katara rushed off in the direction of the noise with Cody and Totodile running after them. That left Sokka waving his arms at them and saying, "Shouldn't we run _away_ from huge booms, not _towards_ them?"

**...**

A few moments later, Aang, Katara, Cody, and Totodile hid behind a fallen tree with Sokka right behind them. Cody felt a bit nervous at facing the something that was making the loud sound. If it was a Garchomp, he could do well despite it being a Ground type. But if it was Groudon...he didn't want to find out.

They were already right near a river bed, where it was reduced to nothing more than a tiny little stream. But they saw what was making all of the noise. A young EarthBender was practicing his art in the river bed, and the five watched him move a huge boulder around. Beside him, a golden Geodude was lifting a boulder with ease before shattering it with a Smack Down attack; this was a Shiny Geodude.

"An EarthBender!" Katara breathed.

Cody pointed to the Geodude and said, "And a Shiny Pokémon!"

Aang replied "Yep. It sure it. So let's go meet 'em!"

"They look dangerous," Sokka warned them. "So we better approach cautiously."

But apparently, two members of the team (human and Pokémon) didn't listen to his ranting. Katara and Cody had ignored the Water Tribe warrior's warning by running way out into the river bed to address the young EarthBender and his Pokémon.

"Hello there!" Katara called out with a big smile on her face. "I'm Katara, and this is Cody, my Pokémon partner! What's your name?"

"Hey, how's it going?" Cody said as he waved from her shoulder, but he was surprised. Katara had never called him her partner before.

The young EarthBender looked over at Katara in surprise (whose bright smile faltered), dropped his rock and ran back down the river bed. As he ran, he EarthBended a mound of rocks into the riverbed, blocking pursuit. But his Shiny Geodude accidentally burst through the pile of rocks, scattering them before running off.

"Nice to meet ya!" Aang called back after them.

Cody leaped down from Katara's shoulder and rubbed against her leg in a comforting way as she said, "We just wanted to say 'hi.'"

Cody nodded in agreement; that EarthBender and his Geodude were acting like jumpy hares out in pasture on a stormy day. But that was their problem, he decided; if they wanted to be skittish, then it was no concern to Rescue Team Avatar.

"Hey, that guy's gotta be running somewhere," Aang reasoned. "Maybe we're near a village, and I bet that village has a market!"

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara cheered joyfully. At that, she and Aang sprinted off towards where the EarthBender and his Geodude left. Cody gave a cheer and ran off after them, singing a song to himself.

Sokka shouted in indignation after them, "Hey! I worked hard to get those nuts!" Momo flew off after them and Totodile stayed behind to throw his nuts away and laugh about it, which made Sokka say in a downcast voice, "Yeah. I hate 'em too."

"Don't feel bad," Totodile said. "Join me in a good place: Imagination Land! Where you burp where you fart and you fart where you burp!" And to show him, he did exactly that.

"Indeed. That's how it happens!" Totodile chuckled before Sokka gave him a strange look. Then those two followed the three others down the road and towards the town.

**...**

Rescue Team Avatar made it to the nearby village that Aang had described earlier, and they were now searching for a market. Cody and Totodile were browsing for more Warriors books because they were now on The Forgotten Warrior. At the market next to them, Aang was trading nuts for a hat from the store beside them before showing it to Sokka, who gave him a weird look.

Cody looked through the first few pages of his new Island Of Shadows book before he walked up to Katara. Since they met up with the EarthBender and his Shiny Geodude, she seemed to be very quiet and only spoke a few words. As she looked about, Cody surprised her a bit by tugging at her light Water Tribe hem.

"Hey, Katara. What's up?" he asked her as he leaped onto her shoulder, like he did as usual.

Katara looked around at the male Pikachu and told him, "I just wanted to make friends with the EarthBender and his Geodude back there. But what're they scared of?"

Cody shrugged. "Beats me."

The young WaterBender sighed and looked around. But while they looked around town, Cody saw a flash of golden in the crowd; it was the Shiny Geodude they had seen earlier. As if on cue, the Rock Pokémon saw them staring at them and gave his nearby owner a thumbs up sign. Then the two quickly entered a nearby house to evade them.

"Hey!" Katara called as she ran after them.

Cody leapt down to the ground and sprinted after her, shouting, "Wait up!"

They ran over to the house, where they looked through a window to see the young EarthBender and his Geodude greet an old woman. This was probably the young man's mother.

"Hi, Mom," the EarthBender greeted her as soon as he approached her.

Geodude gave her a thumbs up and said, "Yo, what's up, man? Er...woman?"

"Where have you been, Haru? You're late!" the older woman asked her son. "And weren't you going to keep an eye on him, Geodude?" She sighed wearily and said instead, "Get started on your chores, you two."

"What?" Geodude asked her, but it wasn't the irate type. It was more of the stunted kind.

Cody and Katara decided to introduce themselves right away and decided to be quite frank in their greetings. So Cody entered the small house first followed by Katara; when he turned to see if she was catching up, he blushed when he saw sunlight pouring in behind her, making her glow.

Katara was the first one to say to Haru, "Hey, you're that kid! Why did you run away before?"

"And you're that Geodude! That Shiny one!" Cody added to the Rock type.

Geodude nodded foolishly. "That's right!"

Haru gave him a warning glance and told Katara, "Uh, you and your Pikachu must have me and my partner confused with someone else."

"No they don't. We saw you EarthBending."

Startled, Cody and Katara turned around to expect some Fire Nation soldiers to jump on them and roast them to a crisp. But it was only Aang, Sokka, and Totodile coming in after them; it was Aang who had spoken.

"And we saw you using Smack Down!" Totodile told Geodude. "You, my good sir, know a good way of beating levitating Pokémon!"

But as Geodude grinned stupidly yet happily at the Big Jaw Pokémon, Haru's mother suddenly went over to the windows and the door, and she closed them tight. Cody could see that she had a look of fear on her face and he couldn't really blame her; another Pokémon that was once scared was Bellsprout from Pokémon Square.

"They saw you doing what?" the old woman rasped, turning on her son.

Haru defended himself, "They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed!"

All three humans look down at their clothing in confusion while Cody looked around his body before straightening his purple cap. But Totodile was the only one who whined, "Again with the clothes comments! Make them stop!"

Haru's mother hissed at her son in fear, "You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you EarthBending!" Turning to Geodude, she hissed, "And you, Geodude, how could you just stand by and let him do this?"

Geodude just shrugged.

"Open up!" a voice roared from outside. Cody sniffed the air and felt his fur bristle; there were FireBenders out there.

"Fire Nation!" Sokka whispered to the group. "Act natural!"

Cody gave a snort of laughter at what he was going to do to act natural. Finding a flower on the ground, he ate it (even though it tasted bad) and started mooing like a cow. He couldn't help but pull a SpongeBob trick like that, but it was really funny to him.

Sokka snapped at him, "No, not like that! Act in your own way!"

"Okay," Cody told him, spitting the flower out. Then, looking at an empty fish tank, he smiled, "I know what I'm gonna do." Then he stood sideways by the tank and lifted his leg.

Just in time, Haru's mother opened the door and a mean-looking Fire Nation soldier stalked in, surveying the scene in front of him. His Growlithe was sniffing around and, when they saw the scene before them, gave it a look of surprise.

The entire group was pulling some strange and unconvincing poses as they acted "natural." Aang was checking something out in a barrel, Katara was pretending to try a sample of some kind of food since her cheeks were puffed up, and Sokka was studying some nearby maps. Totodile was scratching his head as he read his Sign of the Moon book, and Cody was pretending to mark his territory on the side of the empty fish tank.

The top of the barrel that Aang was leaning upon shifted and his hand went into the water up to his shoulder. Cody looked over at him and sighed; it looked like their cover was blown. But the Fire Nation soldier and his Growlithe looked away from them quickly.

"What do you want?" Haru's mother asked the soldier in a defiant tone. "I've already paid you this week."

The soldier growled, "The tax just doubled. Wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He produced a fireball in his hands and smiled in a sneering way at them, making everyone step back. Cody could hear Katara swallow her food sample as the soldier went on slyly, "Fire is sometimes so hard to control."

His Growlithe aimed an Ember attack at Haru's mother's feet, making her defiant look give way to fear and submission. With a twinge of sympathy, Cody watched as the poor old woman placed a small chest on a table. She opened it to reveal a few small coins, took most of them out, and gave them to the soldier. Haru glared hatefully at the soldier, and Geodude made rude signs with his hands. The soldier dumped the small ones on the ground, much to the fury of Cody.

He couldn't believe that someone could be that cruel to do something like that. He recalled when Gengar of Team Meanies was once evil, when he and his pals tried to force Caterpie to join their team if they found Metapod. Luckily, Team Avatar routed Team Meanies and found Metapod. But this was much crueler than forcing someone to join you; taking money away from a poor single mother was wrong in his eyes.

"You can keep the copper ones," the soldier sneered before he left.

Cody leaped after him to attack, but Growlithe kept the Mouse Pokémon back with Ember before following the soldier. Cody fell back, feeling the tips of his fur burn with flames and put them out by licking furiously.

As Haru's mother picked up the copper pieces, Sokka muttered, "Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?"

"I don't know," Geodude said, shrugging. "I was born here several years ago. But I've always dreamt of evolving into a Golem."

Haru's mother quieted him with a look before saying to the group, "Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships. And he wants to also use the coal to be used as a source of food for Fire type Pokémon."

"They're thugs," Haru snarled, his voice full of hatred towards the soldiers. "They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it!"

"Quiet, Haru!" his mother rasped. "Don't talk like that!"

Cody heard Totodile retort, "And why shouldn't he?"

Katara added, "Totodile's right. Haru's an EarthBender. He can help, and so can Geodude."

But what the elder said next made Cody stare in shock: "EarthBending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities."

"How can you say that?" Katara asked her, looking as shocked as Cody did. "Haru has a gift. Asking him not to EarthBend is like asking me not to WaterBend. It's a part of who we are."

Cody nodded and added, "Yeah! And telling Geodude not to use Rock type attacks is like telling me not to use Electric attacks! We're Pokémon; to not know an attack is crazier than a porcupine meeting a pineapple."

"You don't understand," was the elder's miserable reply.

Katara went on, "I understand that Haru and Geodude can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"

"Yeah," Totodile spoke up. "Besides making you pay taxes, I mean."

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father..." Haru's mother rasped before falling silent.

Cody turned back around to see Katara and Haru with looks of sympathy while Geodude looked confused. The autistic male Pikachu agreed with them; this woman had been through a lot: first losing her husband and maybe losing her son later. But for right now, there seemed to be nothing they could do. The only thing they could do was rest until morning, and then they could leave.

_Wish we could stay here for a bit, _he thought. _But we can't._

**...**

After that, quite in the late afternoon, Rescue Team Avatar followed Haru and Geodude to a barn where they would spend the night. Cody admired the scenery; they were at the outhouses of a small farm, and it looked good. He could see a few Sunkern coming out of bushes to catch the last rays of sunshine before going to sleep.

The group had followed Haru and Geodude to the small barn, where Appa was already settling down and eating hay. The late sunlight spilled in and turned the floor from dull brown to pale golden.

"My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning," Haru told the group as they began to settle down.

Cody smirked slightly to himself. He could still hear what Sokka was saying earlier: leaving in the morning.

Aang said to Haru, "Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay."

At that, Appa stopped chewing and looked over at Aang as if wondering why he wasn't being told to not eat the hay. Then, as if he got permission, he just went back to eating his given dinner. Cody and Totodile chuckled at that antic before they went for a short round of Liar's Dice.

**...**

Cody stopped every now and then as he sniffed the air to search for anything that would attack them. He had decided to go on a walk with Katara, Haru, and Geodude so that he could enjoy the company. He had gone along with them while losing a match of Liar's Dice with Totodile, but he didn't mind. Besides, this could be a good chance to bond with Katara.

Speaking of her, she was saying to Haru, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your father."

"That's okay," Haru said as he smiled. "It's funny; the way you were talking back in the store, it reminded me of him."

"Thanks," Katara murmured, a hint of pink on her cheeks.

Cody couldn't help but growl at that; was that flattery or something else? Whatever it was, he wasn't sure if he liked it; he had a small fondness towards the female WaterBender and seeing her with another guy made him growl. But he had no choice but to stay silent, but his growl was caught by Haru.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked the male Pikachu.

Cody pretended to cough and said, "Allergies. It makes me cough and growl at the same time."

"Wow!" Geodude said. Then... "You can talk!"

Katara, Cody, and Haru stared at Geodude in a weird way before Haru went on with his story: "My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded, he, his Golem, and the other EarthBenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway."

Katara smiled at that. "He sounds like a great man."

Cody shrugged. "I bet he is. At least he'd be better than the chicken that gave me fake coupons."

"After the attack," Haru went on, "they rounded up my father, his Golem, their allies, and every other EarthBender, and they took them away. We haven't seen them since."

"So that's why you hide your EarthBending?" Katara asked him.

Haru nodded and went on, "Yeah. The problem is that the only way I can feel close to my father now is when I practice my Bending. He taught me everything I know."

Cody, Katara, Haru, and Geodude had walked up onto the crest of a small hill that overlooked the surrounding countryside. Haru had knelt down and begun twirling some small stones while he spoke about his father. When he was done, he turned the stones to sand, which fell through his fingers.

Now Cody understood why the EarthBender's mother was afraid for her son to be caught doing this. If he would be caught, then hope would evaporate; because of that, he found himself siding with Katara to back Haru and Geodude up. The male Pikachu couldn't bear to stand away and watch the remaining EarthBender in the village be taken away.

Then, while Cody was pondering about this, Katara walked up to the group and sat next to Haru. When Cody's fur began to bristle, she pointed to a necklace on her neck he hadn't seen before; the necklace was black and the silver on it had a Water Tribe symbol. He realized that he didn't know much about her either.

"See this necklace? My mother gave it to me," she explained.

Haru nodded. "It's beautiful."

"Sure is," Cody murmured.

Katara went on a bit sadly, "I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her."

"It's not enough, is it?" Haru asked her with concern.

"No."

With that said, Cody took the chance to say, "I didn't know you had a necklace."

Katara turned to face him and told him, "You never asked."

"Sorry. Speaking of necklaces, I got one too." At that, Cody dug into the bag he took along with him dragged out a necklace with a black strap and a white plastic cross. "This is my necklace. I got it when I was fifteen."

"It looks good. What's it say on the front?" Geodude asked him.

Cody took a deep breath and replied, "The words are kinda faded out, but you can see the words if you hold it under a light. And it says 'God Is Love.'"

Katara smiled at him and replied, "It's nice."

**...****...**

After that talk, the two humans and their two Pokémon were travelling down a forest path back to the barn near a mine. Cody hoped he could find some wildlife to show Katara, but she seemed to be busy talking to Haru. He couldn't help but feel jealous because it seemed like she was more interested in the EarthBender than she was in him.

Suddenly, a boom was heard, and rocks and dust came out of the mine entrance. The sound of an old man, probably hurt, could be heard.

"Help!" the voice wailed.

"The mine!" Haru exclaimed.

Cody and Katara followed Haru and Geodude to the entrance of the mine, where it was now blocked up because of a rockslide. Almost buried by the cave-in was the old man.

"Help me!" the old man rasped again.

The ground still shook a bit, and more earth threatened to fall on and crush the old man. Katara, Haru, and their Pokémon entered the area, and Haru tried to prevent more earth falling on the old man by bracing the mine entrance while Katara tried to get the old man free. Meanwhile, Cody and Geodude decided to guard the area in case a predator or a FireBender got near.

All of a sudden, a Houndoom pack (four in total) had arrived with snarls on their faces and saliva dripping from their fangs; they were perhaps after the old man. They launched a Flamethrower each at them, but Cody and Geodude countered it with Thunderbolt and Smack Down. One Houndoom had crunched down on Cody's tail, blood spraying onto its face and blinding it for a little bit. Geodude was a golden blur as he used Gyro Ball at the Houndoom attacking them.

Cody looked back to see Katara still struggling to free the old man. She was saying, "It's not working! We have to get help!"

"There's no time..." Haru rasped while bracing himself against the entrance of the mine. "...pull harder!"

"Yes, please!" Cody grunted as a Houndoom grabbed him by the scruff and tossed him at a tree. He slid down and snarled at the Houndoom, but he was fenced in by the pack, Geodude rushing forward to save him with Gyro Ball.

"Haru, there's a way you and Geodude can help him," Katara told the EarthBender.

Cody knew what she was talking about: asking Haru to use EarthBending to save the old man. It seemed to be a good thing, but to Haru (Cody could see between the legs of the Houndoom), it seemed to be bad.

"I can't." There was a conflict of pain and resolve on the young EarthBender's face.

Katara reasoned with him, "Please, there's no one around to see you. It's the only way."

Geodude pleaded with him, "Please, Haru! I won't tell! I'm trying to save you!"

"Excuse me, but _I'm_ helping too," Cody snapped.

He could see indecision control Haru's face for a few moments, but then he moved in front of the old man and looked back to the mine entrance. He concentrated and, with a move of his hands and feet, he pushed the barrier of earth and stone back deep into the mine, freeing the old man, whom they helped get up.

Seeing that they had lost their prey, the Houndoom pack began limping away into the forest; not one of the Dark Pokémon got away unscathed. Cody was proud of their victory even though the pain in his tail stung, and Geodude was grinning despite having small chips of rock taken out of his body.

"Haru, you did it!" Katara praised him as they helped the old man up.

"I'll say!" Cody added. "Your dad will be more proud of you than a pig among guinea pigs!"

**...**

Momo was chattering at the window of the barn on Haru's farm the group was sleeping in. Cody had told Totodile about the event while Katara had told Aang and Sokka about what happened. Unlike Sokka, who was shocked and angry about that, Totodile was impressed.

"Nicely done, partner!" he praised Cody as he wrapped another bandage around his friend's tail. "You'll be another Robin Hood in no time!"

Cody gave his friend a high-five and walked over to Katara, who was retelling her tale to Aang. The Avatar was on top of Appa's head and listening to her story.

"It was so brave of Haru to use his EarthBending to help that old man," Katara finished the story.

Aang smiled down at her and told her, "You must've really inspired him."

Katara blushed at what he said. "I guess so."

Cody and Totodile gave their friends a nod before they shared one more snack before going to bed. Cody gave a yawn and curled up in Katara's lap while Totodile rested just at the foot of Sokka's sleeping bag.

"Everyone should get some sleep," the said warrior spoke up. "We're leaving at dawn."

"Dawn?" Katara whined. "Can't we sleep in for once?"

Cody silently agreed. He wasn't a morning rodent.

Sokka snapped crossly, "Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Good night."

With a sly grin on her face, Katara teased her brother, "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts."

"Don't forget the slugs," Totodile spoke up. "I bet you'd make a nice slug-and-nut soup!"

"_Good night,_" Sokka snapped before rolling over.

That caused the other two humans and Pokémon to laugh before Totodile fell asleep, snoring loudly. As Katara blew out the lamp, Cody curled up next to her body and once again let her sweet scent lure him to sleep. He snuggled next to her belly before letting dreams take over his tired mind.

**...**

Geodude couldn't help but smile at the full moon; he was proud of what he had done today. He couldn't believe he helped a Pikachu fight off a pack of Houndoom while Haru rescued the old man from the mine. The golden Rock type Pokémon was just going to have a rock cake for a bedtime snack when he and Haru heard something.

So Geodude peeked out the window and gasped: Fire Nation troops were walking along a path leading to their farm. Lamps on polls swung back and forth as they marched on. The soldier who extorted the money from the prior day was leading the column, and his Growlithe prowled beside him; he also wore a helmet with horns on either side. He knocked on Haru's house's door three times, and Haru and Geodude came out.

But what they saw next shocked them.

The Fire Nation soldiers had brought the old man from the abandoned mine. He seemed to have a look of accusation on his face as he pointed his finger at them.

"That's him! That's the EarthBender!" he rasped.

The soldier pushed the old man out of the way and approached Haru, grabbing him and pulling him away. Angered by this, Geodude launched himself forward and used a Gyro Ball at that soldier, knocking him off of his feet.

Growlithe leaped at Geodude and knocked him to the ground with a Take Down attack. In a few seconds, Geodude had some chains wrapped around him and was stuffed into a metal cage.

"Since this one wants to resist, we'll take him with us," the soldier sneered. "He'll make a good goblet for the Fire Lord. Lock the cage!"

Geodude gulped; they wouldn't do that, would they? But he could speak no further when a green vapor (Known to be Sleep Powder) seeped into his cage and he fell asleep.

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

The next morning at dawn, Katara and Cody were walking out of the barn, getting ready to leave in a few minutes. Cody had gone with her so that he could protect her from any criminals or wild animals around the area, although it was very unlikely. She had reassured him that she wasn't going to be attacked, but he went with her just in case.

_Who needs to wok a pump when you can WaterBend the water out of it?_

Katara walked up to the nearby water pump to get some water. She carried a gray pot which she placed under the spout. Rather than wok the pump, however, she elegantly WaterBended some water out of the pump and into the jar. She picked up the pot and gave Cody a smile when he came out of the nearby bushes with a mouse in his jaws.

"You don't think it's weird for me to catch a fish?" Cody asked her in amazement.

"Not really. It's just a prey drive, right?" she replied, smiling a small smile down at him.

Cody chuckled. "I guess so."

They began to turn around, but when they did, they saw Haru's mother looking out over the farm and the horizon of the small wooded area. They waited for a response before she turned around on the spot; Cody felt very sympathetic when he saw tears leak down her face and she had a look of sorrow on her face.

Cody heard Katara gasp and the breaking of a pot behind him; he turned around to see the Water Tribe girl staring on in dismay. The shock in her beautiful blue eyes had betrayed the realization that Haru and Geodude had been captured during the night. Hearing her run off to the barn, Cody dropped his freshly-caught fish onto the spilled water on the ground and ran off after her.

When they arrived to the barn they were staying at, Cody saw Totodile give him a confused look as he packed two books into his bag. The male Pikachu flicked his lightning bolt tail flicked his tail to Katara before the two Pokémon went inside.

"They took them! They took Haru and Geodude away!" Katara was wailing, tearing at her hair in anguish.

"What?" Aang asked her in shock.

Katara went on miserably, "The old man turned them in to the Fire Nation!" In an upset voice, she wailed, "It's all my fault! I forced Haru into EarthBending!"

Totodile snarled, "Whoa, whoa, whoa there! It's NOT your fault! If it's anyone's fault, it's that old geezer's fault! He shouldn't have ratted them out!"

"Totodile, that's enough," Sokka told him. When the Big Jaw Pokémon settled down, he went over to his sister, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and held her hand as a sign of comfort and genuine concern. "Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?"

"Haru's mother said they came for them at midnight," Katara told him, calming down a little.

Sokka dropped her hand and replied, "Then it's too late to track them. They're long gone."

"Dude, it's never too late to save someone," Totodile argued. "I say we get an Arcanine and race after them."

Cody agreed with that; if they could find an Arcanine or two...or three or four or five, then they could race away and find Haru and his Geodude. But not even an Arcanine could stand against the Fire Nation, Cody reasoned, even though Arcanine has the Flash Fire ability. He knew that, with Flash Fire, a Fire type attack could power up its Fire type attacks.

Katara interrupted him by saying, "We don't need to track them. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru and Geodude."

"And I'll go with you," Cody told her, leaping onto her shoulder. She rubbed the top of his head in gratitude.

"Why would they do that?" Aang asked them, puzzled.

"Because they're going to arrest me for EarthBending," Katara told him, resolve hardening her voice as she looked at him.

Sokka and Aang looked at her with concern while Cody and Totodile looked at each other with confusion. They remembered reading the Warrior book called A Dangerous Path when the cats of ThunderClan used prey to lure a vicious pack of dogs into a gorge to their deaths. But what Katara was implying seemed almost like that, except that this could be more dangerous.

But Cody wanted to help her in any way. If it meant having his pelt burned off, he would help her.

**...**

Sokka and Katara were rolling a stone up a hill while Cody and Totodile dug out any spots that the stone got stuck in. Some wild Pokémon had helped out by chipping out small pieces of the boulder with their claws while burrowing underground. Despite being Bug/Grass type Pokémon, the Paras were useful in underground work like a Digglet or even an Excadrill could do.

"Thanks," Sokka told Cody and Totodile. To Katara, he said with a smug smile, "I thought you were crazy at first, Katara, but this might work. There are ventilation shafts throughout these mines. All Aang has to do is send an air current from that vent to this one right here. The boulder levitates and...ta-da! Fake EarthBending."

After the two humans had pushed the boulder on top of a vent, Cody and Totodile sat down next to it. They took some water bottles from their backpacks, went to a nearby creek to fill it up with water, and chugged the water down. They took some water bottles from the humans' bags, filled _them_ up with water, and placed them into the bags where they belonged.

When that was done, Cody and Totodile saw that the vent was now hidden from view thanks to the boulder. But it was part of the plan; all Aang had to do was blow some air with AirBending into the vent on his side and create fake EarthBending. Cody didn't know if any other Pokémon had to be involved in the plan, but he knew it was useless to ask.

"Aang, did you get all that?" Katara asked the Avatar, turning to him with her hands on her hips.

But when Cody and Totodile followed her gaze, what they saw made them groan. Aang wasn't really paying attention at all; instead, he was sitting cross-legged in front of the vent, blowing air at a little butterfly in front of him while Momo watched.

"Sure, I got it," Aang told her distractedly.

"Do you remember your cue?" Sokka asked him.

Totodile added, "Don't tell us yes. It's like the White River monster wanting to eat humans."

But Aang didn't pay attention as he replied, "Yeah, yeah. Just relax. You're taking all the fun out of this!"

Looking surprised, Sokka asked, "By 'this', do you mean intentionally getting captured by an army of ruthless FireBenders?"

"And by 'this', you mean having to dodge all them fireballs?" Totodile added.

"Exactly!" Aang said cheerfully. "That's fun stuff!"

Totodile gave Cody a look as if to say _How on Earth can we understand this kid?_

But suddenly, before Cody could reply, he could smell a scent of coal and fire in the air. And, as he sniffed deeper, he saw that it was getting closer. At first, he thought it was a forest fire, but he smelled a scent of human and the coal scent with them. They were coming from the right side of the clearing while Rescue Team Avatar was on the left side.

Sokka saw the worry on his face, for he ordered, "Here they come! Get in your places!"

So before the soldiers got near, everyone got in their places while Aang stayed at the vent. Cody leapt onto Katara's shoulder while Totodile leaped onto Sokka's shoulder, for they were going to be bystanders in the plan. And on cue, Katara and Sokka walked towards each other and bumped against each other when the soldiers arrived.

_So far, so good, _Cody mused.

"Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" Sokka growled at Katara in a slightly exaggerated voice.

"How dare you call me 'pipsqueak', you giant-eared cretin!" Katara retorted, also in a faintly exaggerated voice.

Sokka snarled in fake anger, "What did you call me?"

Katara retorted, "A giant-eared cretin! Look at those things!" She put her hands up to her ears and fanned out her fingers in imitation of huge ears. "Do herds of animals use them for shade?"

Cody and Totodile, who were going to sit on their shoulders and watch, couldn't help but laugh at that. Laughing like hyenas, they fell off the humans' shoulders next to Momo and laughed out loud. The soldiers looked at them for a few moments before turning back to Katara and Sokka, who continued to pretend to argue.

"You better back off!" Sokka growled in pretend anger. Then, putting his hand to partially block his mouth from the soldier's view, he whispered, "Seriously...back off."

"I will not back off!" Katara snarled in pretend anger. "I bet elephants get together and make fun of how large your ears are!"

Laughing quietly now, Cody and Totodile could tell that Katara was taking this a little bit too far; she seemed to forget that this was all pretend. The two Pokémon stopped laughing and watched on in silence; the Fire Nation's Zubat and Golbat just watched the entire scene in confusion.

Finally, Sokka snapped, "That's it! You're going down!"

Katara retorted intensely, "I'll show YOU who's boss...EarthBending style!"

Instantly, she took on a mock EarthBending stance as she shouted her challenge. To add this on, Cody and Totodile persuaded some Jigglypuff to create background music to show supernatural powers. The two members of Rescue Team Avatar looked around from the Balloon Pokémon to see how things were going for Katara.

But when the Jigglypuff stopped their music, what they saw made them sigh quietly: the boulder Katara was supposed to be "Bending" didn't move an inch. It appeared that Aang didn't do his job right...or yet, he didn't do his job at all. Cody was on the verge of going over to the Avatar and telling him off, but Katara beat him there.

After moments of silence, she repeated herself angrily, "I SAID_ EarthBending style!"_

Cody and Totodile heard a yelp from Aang and suddenly saw the boulder slightly rise from the vent into the air. When they looked around and saw Momo holding his arms up high, Cody and Totodile did the same thing and lifted THEIR arms in the air. But this caused the Fire Nation soldiers and their Pokémon to look at them with amazement.

One soldier gasped, "That lemur! It's EarthBending!"

"It's not that lemur! Those Pokémon are doing it!" one of the Golbat cackled.

But Sokka snapped at them, "No, you idiots! It's the girl! And that Pikachu's helping her!"

The soldier that spoke earlier said, "Oh...of course."

As Cody walked out from behind the rock that fell back in its place, a Victreebel swiftly jumped out from behind the Fire Nation soldiers. Cody pretended to use Quick Attack on the Flycatcher Pokémon while Victreebel used Stun Spore to paralyze him. At that, he fell down, paralyzed, and fell to the ground before being wrapped up in a Vine Whip. Katara and Totodile looked shocked at this, but Cody gave them a nod to not step any closer.

Meanwhile, in an exaggerated voice and his hands on Katara's shoulders, Sokka said, "I'll hold her!" Then in a low voice, he whispered, "You and Cody have got twelve hours to find Haru and Geodude. We'll be right behind you."

"I agree," Totodile whispered to Cody, so close and quietly that the enemies couldn't hear. "And if you want some more time, we'll give it to you." Loudly so that they could hear him, he called, "And that is why you're weird!"

Finally, Cody was lifted off of the ground and forced into a cage with shackles inside. The male Pikachu knew better than to struggle, or the plan could utterly fail. He looked up from the cage to see Katara looking back at Aang and Sokka still standing in the middle of the road. Cody could see Totodile on Sokka's shoulder; his friend had worry in his yellowish-brown eyes.

As Momo sat on Aang's shoulders, Sokka told him, "Momo, YOU have some big ears."

That made Totodile laugh.

**...**

Cody and Katara were now at a port at the village, where a Fire Nation ship was at. Cody hated to see Katara look so downcast and wearing a brown cloth over her blue Water Tribe robes. He wanted to get out and comfort her, to tell her that everything would be all right. But there was nothing he could do except whisper comforting words to her.

They were both in a wheeled transport with other prisoners and their Pokémon being taken to the prison ship. Totodile, Aang, and Sokka were in the crowd watching her being taken aboard. They were in disguise and not keeping their eyes off of them as the vehicle drove away from the port to the dock.

As Cody and Katara were boarded onto the ship, the autistic Pikachu looked to the sky to see Appa tailing them from a distance. In the distance, he could see a rig and an offshore platform. This was the Fire Navy ship's destination. The rig was huge, dark, industrial, and very ominous. In the background, a bloody sunset cast its last rays of light over the compound.

"Katara and Cody will be fine, you two," Sokka was telling Aang and Totodile. "They know what they're doing."

**...**

The sun was now setting in front of Cody and Katara as they stood by the other prisoners and their Pokémon. As they lined up, the Warden of the rig and a Magmar marched towards them with sneers on their faces. Cody did not like the looks on their faces; that could spell danger.

The Warden began to speak loudly: "EarthBenders, it is our pleasure to welcome you aboard our modest shipyard. I am your warden, and Magmar is your overseer. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests, and I hope you come to think of us as your humble and caring hosts. You will succeed here if you simply abide..."

The Warden's speech was interrupted by a prisoner, who was behind the warden and started to cough. The Warden's look hardened instantly and leapt away from the lineup, turned around, and Bended a huge gout of flame at the coughing prisoner. The targeted man jumped backwards, but a Focus Blast from Magmar brought him back down. The other prisoners and their Pokémon just shook in fright, but Katara and Cody refused to cower.

"What kind of guest dishonors his hosts by interrupting them? Take him below!" the Warden snapped. Quietly, he added, "One week in solitary will improve his manners."

Then he put his face up to Katara's, but still speaking to the group, while Magmar leered up at Cody, who was still on her shoulder. Both Katara and Cody glared defiantly at the Warden and his Magmar, but they ignored them.

While this went on, the Warden said, "Simply treat us with the courtesy Magmar and I give you, and we'll get along famously. You will notice, EarthBenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth, so if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for Bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible. Good day."

Cody looked away from Magmar to see how the prisoners would react; they now looked very hopeless. When the Warden and his Magmar were done, they turned around and walked away as the prisoners were led away.

**...**

Cody snarled with fury as he was tossed into the open rig area while Katara was shoved in from behind. When the double gate behind them dropped, they took the time to look around and saw the despair of the prisoners and their Pokémon. Some Pokémon were even kids crying miserably for their parents; this was too much to bear, for they had gotten scars too nasty for their age.

"Look at them, Cody." Katara's voice was a whisper of sorrow. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"No. I've attended my great-grandma's funeral and I had a girlfriend that broke up with me," Cody replied. "But this is also sad. And it's sadder than when I...never mind. But this is still sad."

Katara rolled her eyes before the two friends walked amid the prisoners, getting more concerned for them by each passing moment. Cody recalled seeing several commercials on television about abused animals and the help they needed. Right now, these EarthBenders and Pokémon needed help right away; if not, they could all die.

"Katara? Cody?"

"Is that you?"

Cody and Katara turned to see Haru standing up from a group of prisoners while Geodude rushed towards them. He had become a golden blur as he knocked Cody to the ground.

"Haru!" Katara cried happily as she ran over to him and hugged him.

As Cody kept a growl from leaving his throat, Haru asked his two new friends, "What're you two doing here?"

Katara told him, "It's my fault you were captured. We came to rescue you and Geodude."

"So you got yourself arrested? You and Cody?" Haru asked Katara in wonder.

Katara answered meekly, "It was the only way to find you."

Geodude was listening to her with eyes shining and merely said, "Wow."

Haru folded his arms across his chest and smiled. "You got guts, Katara, I'll give you that. You and Cody got guts." Taking her shoulder, he told her, "Come one, there's someone I want you to meet. You and Cody haven't met them yet."

"They're nice guys!" Geodude told them.

Cody and Katara exchanged glances, nodded, and followed Haru and his Shiny Geodude to the nearest group of prisoners. At the head was an older man who was eating with his fellow prisoners; he looked very much like a powerful EarthBender indeed. And beside him was a large Golem with a scar over one eye.

Cody supposed that Geodude wanted to evolve into a Golem because of Haru's father's Golem. But he had to pay attention because Haru's father stopped eating and turned to face his son when he was spoken to.

"Katara and Cody, this is my father Tyro and his Golem. Dad and Golem, this is Katara and her Pikachu Cody," Haru introduced them to each other.

"It's an honor to meet you," Katara greeted Tyro.

Cody did the same thing and said, "We've heard a lot about you. And you two are much cooler than Captain Crunch was when he wanted to kill Count Chocula."

He could see Tyro, Geodude, Haru, and Golem giving him weird looks. Awkwardly, Cody made a mental not to never talk about flashbacks to anyone unless they were explained properl . And just when the young Pikachu finished thinking, he heard a growling-like rumble behind them.

He saw Katara blush slightly and figured out that she was getting hungry, for her stomach was growling; he didn't blame her, for he was also hungry himself. He had been a big eater when he was once a human, and he still was as a Pokémon. Cody hated to figure out what kind of food was going to be served at this prison, but he had to eat something.

Meanwhile, Tyro finished greeting them and handed them a bowl, saying, "Have some supper, Katara. And make sure you get your Pikachu friend something too."

Cody took the chance to look into the bowl; it looked like soup that was taken from the belly of an Onix. But he didn't complain as he looked at Katara; he could see her hunger turning slowly to disgust.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Tyro reassured them.

Golem looked sideways at Tyro before adding in a thick British voice, "Actually, that spot of stuff IS as bad as it looks."

Katara took a spoonful of the stuff and spat it back out, retching slightly. Cody winced as she dipped the spoon back into the bowl and offered it to him; he knew that he hated arguing with her. So he swallowed his urge to puke and, closing his eyes, he took the spoon into his mouth, only to spit it back out and rub his tongue thoroughly with his front paws.

It was about one of the worst things that he had ever eaten. Other foods that he hated to eat were ketchup, mustard, pickles, coconuts, and other stuff that he wasn't interested. He hoped to never eat something like that for the rest of his life.

"See?" Golem told Tyro.

Tyro smiled ruefully before turning back to Katara and Cody. "It's still pretty bad, though."

Suddenly, a hand appeared on Tyro's shoulder; it was another prisoner trying to get his attention. "Tyro, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around," he was saying.

Golem added, "Yeah. Poor blokes could freeze to death."

"I'll talk to the guards," Tyro replied. "In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather."

Cody had to respect his bold words; he sounded like a leader from the Warrior series. In a Clan, elders were usually cared for a lot; the same was true in real-life, but most people might reject to care for an elder. What Tyro was instructing showed that he cared for those weaker than himself. But there was something else that made Cody suspicious: defeat. It sounded like the War was already lost.

Katara finally spoke up, "If you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?"

Golem looked at her as Tyro asked her civilly but doubtfully, "Excuse me?"

"You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig?" Katara pressed on impatiently. "What is it? Mutiny? Sabotage?"

"Execution?" Cody added. Katara gave him a look, and he asked defensively, "What?"

"What plan are you talking about?" Golem growled.

Tyro silenced him before rasping, "The plan? The plan is to survive...wait out this war. Hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened."

Katara asked him with shock, "How can you say that? You sound like you've already given up."

"Yeah!" Cody growled.

"Katara, I admire your courage, and I envy your youth. And Cody, your loyalty to your friend is terrific," Tyro told them wearily. "But people's lives are at stake here. The Warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry...but we're powerless."

Cody looked around and felt that somehow, he and Katara could help these prisoners show some backbone. Right now, they were acting like a Maril that was too scared to swim...although he had never heard of a Maril that hated to swim.

"We'll see about that! Come on, Cody!" Katara spoke with determination all over her face.

She stood up, walked over to a platform with the bowl and spoon in her hands, and clanged them together to get everyone's attention. Cody let out a growl when he saw that the Pokémon weren't paying attention, so he zapped the Ground types with a ThunderBolt. It didn't hurt them, but it did catch their attention. Satisfied at that, Cody looked up at Katara and nodded to her, telling her to go on.

Katara cleared her throat and began to speak as the Warden and his Magmar watched from a catwalk above. Cody leaped onto her shoulder and raised his paws for silence.

"EarthBenders! You don't know me, but I know of you. Every child of my Water Tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories of the brave Earth Kingdom and the courageous EarthBenders who guard its borders. Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless. Yes, they have taken away your ability to Bend, but they can't take away your courage, and it is your courage they should truly fear!"

Cody added, "Make them afraid! Make them VERY afraid!"

Katara nodded and went on, "Because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are, hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned! So remember your courage, EarthBenders! Let us fight for our freedom!"

Cody shouted, "She's right! Are you in...or out?"

Katara's voice was so amazing and her face etched with determination that it would be wrong to ignore her. But to Cody's displeasure, no one answered, only to have a Piloswine cough at them. The prisoners and their Pokémon turned their backs on them and went back to their groups while the Warden and his Magmar glared down at them with dark pleasure.

As his friend's expression faded to dismay, Cody glared up at them, barely containing himself anymore. He was about to launch a Thunderbolt at them, but Katara hushed him with a glare, which made him cancel his attack. When he finished, he looked back up to glare at his foes, but the Warden and his Magmar were gone.

**...**

It was nighttime on the rig and Cody was curled up in a ball next to Katara. He couldn't sleep at all, and not even her sweet scent could comfort him. Not only that, but he was also thirsty and hungry. But he had no time to think about that, for a shadow fell across them.

Katara gasped when she woke up as Cody hissed a warning, but he saw that it was only Aang. Somehow, he had found his way onto the ship, perhaps by Appa...very much so. Anyways, the Avatar gently shushed her up and led her and Cody over to the side of the ship. And there was Appa, floating there above the water with Totodile and Sokka at the top.

"Your twelve hours are up. Where are Haru and Geodude?" Sokka asked his sister. "We've got to get out of here."

Aang hopped off the platform and onto Appa. Sokka held his arm out to Katara while Totodile hopped on board, trying to carry Cody to the Flying Bison.

"Not just yet," Cody growled, glaring over his shoulder at the rig.

"He's right," Katara agreed with him. "We can't."

Sokka hissed, "We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Get on."

Totodile glared at him to shush while Aang asked Katara, "Katara, what's wrong?"

Cody flicked his tail towards the lighthouse where the prisoners were kept an eye on.

And Katara herself rasped, "We're not leaving. Cody and I are not giving up on these people or their Pokémon."

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

"What do you mean you're not leaving?"

That was Sokka speaking after he, Aang, and Totodile had gotten off of Appa; the Sky Bison, for the time being, was floating in the air beside the platform. Meanwhile, the three humans and two Pokémon were sitting in a triangle on the rig's edge. Cody was sitting in Katara's lap as Totodile sat on top of Sokka's head.

Katara argued, "We can't leave those people and Pokémon. There has to be a way to help them."

"Don't worry, Katara. I won't leave 'em either," Cody added. "Or else I'd feel as bad as Totodile felt when he played Survivor."

"Maybe they're right," Aang said. "What do you say, Sokka?"

Sokka just shook his head in frustration. "I say you're all crazy!"

A searchlight came round the corner, and they crouched low until it passed. Then Sokka hissed, "Last chance, you two! We need to leave...now!"

"No," Katara simply replied.

Cody added sharply, "And didn't you hear us say that these people and Pokémon are in danger? Are you in or out?"

"I hate when you get like this," Sokka sighed, shaking his head. But suddenly, another search light came close, almost catching them. "Come on, we better hide."

And just in time, the five members of Rescue Team Avatar hid behind some more boxes near the edge of the prison rig. But however, Aang quickly got out from behind the hiding spot to whisper something to Appa. Totodile also came forth to climb onto Appa in case the Sky Bison needed someone to tell him what went on. Plus, he was to report what the Warden was saying.

Cody looked up towards the night sky and curled up in Katara's lap, swapping a worried glance with her. He hoped that Appa and Totodile would return with ideas on how to defeat the Warden and his Magmar. All that they had to do was to wait until they came back with some news.

_Please God, don't let them get captured._

**...**

Before Totodile could look down to see fish, he saw some kind of light near the edge of the rig. Whispering the words "Yip yip" to Appa, the two of them went to investigate this sight closely. Despite that he was a Pokémon, Totodile and Cody could to use the words "Yip yip" to make Appa fly. It was like what the humans did with the Sky Bison.

Totodile and Appa made it to the rig, where two Fire Soldiers turned around the corner on the rounds. As they rounded the bend, Appa flew by as the guards saw him and looked up. Totodile couldn't help but make a funny face at them and a little gagging sound to make it funnier.

"Look!" one soldier called, pointing at their retreating forms.

But that attracted the attention of the Prison Warden and his Magmar, who had come to see what was going on. Giving Appa another command, Totodile got them a little higher in the air so that they wouldn't see.

"Tell us what you saw exactly," the Warden told the soldiers coolly.

Magmar nodded but didn't speak. Totodile guessed that this Pokémon was mute.

The human who appeared to be the captain replied, "Well, Sir, it looked like a flying bison."

"What?"

The other guard added, "It was a giant flying buffalo, sir, with an empty saddle. And there seemed to be a Totodile on top of its head. Either that, or it's a Sandile."

_Sandile? _Totodile thought huffily.

But the Warden's expression didn't change as he snapped, "Which _was_ it? A buffalo or a bison? And was the creature on top a Totodile or a Sandile?"

Totodile growled mutely, _I am NO Sandile, retards!_

"Uh, I'm not sure what the difference is," the captain replied. "But that's not really the point, is it, Sir?"

"I'll decide what the point is, fool!" the Warden roared angrily.

Totodile saw the Warden grab the Captain and throw him over the railing; his Magmar used a Flamethrower at him before he fell. A scream from the captain trailed off into nothing as Appa and Totodile heard a splash of seawater. Totodile didn't feel too sorry, but he felt that the Warden had acted really stupid.

_Who's the captain now?_

"You!" the Warden barked at the remaining guard. "Wake up the Captain! Search the entire rig!"

"Sir?"

"What?"

The guard looked uneasy as he said meekly, "That...was the Captain you just threw overboard, so..."

The Warden heaved a sigh and snapped, "Then wake up someone I haven't _thrown_ overboard and search the rig!" When the guard left, he snarled, "There's something going on here, and I don't like it."

Totodile gulped when he thought of what the Warden would do; this was very important to tell Aang, Cody, and the others. So he whispered the words "Yip yip" again to Appa, and they went on back to find the rest of Rescue Team Avatar.

**...**

When Totodile and Appa made it back to the others hiding, they could see that they were hiding behind some loading crates. Totodile landed when Appa tilted forward to and described to them that the Warden was very angry. But other than that, the angry FireBender and Magmar were now distracted.

"We don't have much time," Sokka said when Totodile finished his report. "What are we gonna do?"

"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," Aang spoke up.

But Katara and Sokka looked rather unimpressed at that idea while Cody looked horrified. His friend understood that because where he had lived at as a human, hurricane season would occur in the summer. Not only there, but Treasure Town would also feel the pain from some hurricane damage.

Seeing their looks, the Avatar protested, "The Warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!"

Sokka interjected, "Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?"

"Bet he would, Sokka," Totodile said. "Bet he would."

Aang defended himself, "I'm just tossing ideas around."

Deciding that they needed to let Katara and Cody speak, Totodile beckoned them forward to the middle of the group. Those two were prisoners, after all, and they needed their help.

At last, Katara started, "Cody and I both tried talking the EarthBenders and their Pokémon into fighting back, but it didn't work. If there was just a way to help them help themselves..."

"Yeah. We're not gonna be around any longer to get them off their butts," Cody added.

"For that, they'd need some kind of earth, or some rock...something they can Bend." At this, Sokka took up a thinking pose with Totodile joining him.

"But this entire place is made of metal," Katara insisted, feeling around the platform of the rig.

"No, it's not. Look at the smoke," Aang announced, pointing towards a chimney. Cody and Totodile looked up to see smoke rising from the top of it. "I bet they're burning coal! In other words..._earth_."

**...**

"I hope this works," Cody said later.

He, Sokka, and Katara were at the location where he and his friend made their speech the day before. They were looking down into an enormous ventilation shaft, which was covered by a grate similar to the ones seen earlier near the mine where Katara and Cody got arrested. Totodile and Aang had gone inside the chimney to carry out the next part of the plan to help the prisoners.

Cody prayed for this to work; he recalled his first mission of having to rescue two Magnemite from the Thunderwave Cave. But they weren't rescuing just two Pokémon. They were going to save a lot of EarthBenders and their Pokémon.

Katara looked up to the sky and cried, "It's almost dawn! We're running out of time! Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Of course it'll work!" Cody told her. "At least I hope so...unlike when I tried to narrate my own life."

"You're right, Cody. It should," Sokka replied. "These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village. We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale." Going more into the plan, he explained, "There's a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo, and the whole system is ventilated. Aang and Totodile already closed off all the vents except one. When Aang does his AirBending, the coal only has one place to go...right back here."

The sun began shining down onto Cody's pelt, making him look golden in the sunlight. It was now morning.

However, six Fire Nation soldiers and their groups of Golbat surrounded them. The soldiers were pointing their spears at them while their Golbat were leering at them, their fangs luminous in the sunlight. The prisoners were behind the guards, as well as Tyro and Golem, who all looked very shocked...but not in a good way.

"There's the intruder!" one guard snapped.

"Actually, we're just a few intruders! Back off!" Cody spat, arching his back and making sparks fly from his cheeks.

Sokka, for a moment, drew out his boomerang and yelled, "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

But Tyro shouted with fear, "Katara! Cody! You two can't win this fight!"

Haru and Geodude glanced at Tyro and Golem in shock while Katara looked more shocked than they. Cody, meanwhile, was angry at this; instead of jumping into battle, Tyro and Golem were just giving up. This was not the way a Rescue Team member would act like. Instead, they would fight until the end to save their friends.

Taking the time, he glanced back at the vent. No coal was coming from there yet.

"Listen to him well, child." Cody whipped around to see the Warden standing there and sneering at Katara. "You and your Pikachu are one mistake away from dying where you stand."

Cody snarled at him, "Lay one hand on her and I'll Thunderbolt you till you're a cinder!"

The Warden just sneered, "Bring it!"

But before the young Pikachu and the Warden could battle, there was a rumbling sound that made Cody halt. And the next thing surprised him very much.

As the soldiers and their Pokémon stalked nearer, air began to rush out of the vent, followed by dust and pebbles. Then a living river of coal erupted like a volcano from the grate, eventually tearing it away. Cody arched his head back to look up at the eruption of coal as it shot high into the air over the deck, blasting the grate away. The Warden and his Magmar looked up in the air too, obviously shocked and dismayed.

The coal landed in a massive pile between the EarthBenders and the FireBenders, followed by a gasp of surprise from Haru and Geodude. The prisoners and their Pokémon were looking at the pile of earth that had appeared. Then, to Cody's relief, Totodile and Aang dropped from out of nowhere and landed on top of the pile, covered in coal dust. They coughed the dust off of their bodies as Katara ran up to the top of the coal, Cody following her.

"You ready for this?" Cody asked her, eagerness flowing in his veins.

"You bet!" At that, she shouted to the prisoners, "Here's your chance, EarthBenders! Take it!" She grabbed a lump of coal and raised it into the air, shouting, "Your fate is in your own hands!"

Cody grabbed a lump of coal from the pile and raised it into the air also. "That counts for you Pokémon too! And the Avatar _is_ here like she said! Like I said before: Are you in...or out?" Breaking the fourth wall, he added, "Those of you wondering why I keep saying this, watch Aladdin and the King of Thieves."

Haru and Geodude had hope in their eyes as they walked towards the coal mound, but Cody was upset to see Tyro and Golem stop them. And he was further angry to see that the other prisoners were stepping back, avoiding any fighting. Cody looked back up to Katara to see her looking as shocked as he did when they started backing down.

Harsh laughter from behind them made Cody turn to see the Warden glaring at him and Katara with brutal triumph. The young Pikachu felt his fur bristle at the thought of this evil man starting to taunt her.

"Foolish girl! You and your yellow rat! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank hopeless faces. Them and their Pokémon!"

Katara and Cody did so. The prisoners and their Pokémon did look sad.

Magmar sneered as the Warden continued mocking Katara, "There spirits were broken a long time ago. Oh? But you still believe in them?" Cody was shocked to see Katara drop the coal with shock on her face. "How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You and your pathetic little Pikachu. You've failed."

Cody looked back up at Katara again and was further dismayed to see her look lonely and defeated. He leapt up onto her shoulder and started licking her cheek to comfort her, giving the Warden a look of hatred. How dare this man tell her she failed to inspire these people! The nerve of it all!

But as the Warden turned to walk back into the rig in (with Magmar following him), a lump of coal flew at him and hit him in the back of the head. He and Magmar turned around in anger (so did Katara and Cody), and they saw that it was Haru who had tossed that coal at him. The young EarthBender's face was lit up with anger as he twirled some lumps of coal above his raised left hand, the prisoners behind him. Geodude was beside him with the same look.

Suddenly, as Geodude shook with rage, he started glowing white. His body became wider and bigger, his arms got longer, and he started to grow feet. When that was done, instead of a golden Geodude, there was now a dark golden Graveler, who stomped the ground and tripped Magmar with his new Bulldoze attack.

Angrily, while helping Magmar to its feet, the Warden whirled around and launched a blast of fire at the young man; Magmar joined him by using Flamethrower at Graveler. The gout of flame was about to overwhelm Haru, who braced himself for death, when it was blocked by a wall of coal. The one who blocked it was none other than Tyro, in an EarthBending posture, who had stepped forward to protect his son. Golem was beside him on top of the wall of coal and fired a Stone Edge attack at Magmar, who dodged it easily.

The rig was now about to become a battlefield before the Warden and his men, now in a firing line. Cody and Katara watched on with pride; the EarthBenders and their Pokémon were now ready to fight. It seemed that they were readying to battle.

"Show no mercy!" the Warden barked angrily.

The Fire Nation soldiers charged ahead, freeing a wall of flame. Tyro and three EarthBenders, including Haru, blocked it with a huge wall of coal. The coal absorbed the flames as certainly as a sponge soaking up water. Their Pokémon (Golem, Graveler, Sudowoodo, and even Bronzong) launched a barrage of attacks like Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Rock Throw, and even Shadow Ball at their Golbat.

"For the Earth Kingdom, ATTACK!" Tyro roared.

At this, he slammed the palms of his fists on the deck of the rig, hurling the wall of coal forward towards the FireBenders. The Fire Soldiers deflected some rocks with flame. Golem slammed himself down onto the ground hard, making his Earthquake attack shake the Machoke off of their feet.

When the EarthBenders and the FireBenders lined up against each other, a great brawl began.

Some EarthBenders blocked several fire attacks with coal shields and knocked out a FireBender by striking them with huge lumps of coal thrown at high speed. Meanwhile, Sudowoodo used Hammer Arm to slam a Machoke to the ground. Heaps of burning coals now littered the deck. Golem was fighting one-on-one against Magmar, throwing a Thunder Punch at it as the Spitfire Pokémon punched it in the face with a Fire Punch.

Katara, Sokka and Aang traded looks with Cody and Totodile before they ran into battle. They didn't want to stand by and let the EarthBenders get flattened by the Fire Nation. Cody used Thunderbolt to strike some flying Golbat while Totodile leapt from Sokka's shoulder to use an Ice Punch at a Crobat's face.

A Fire Nation soldier entered the battle, but Sokka cut off the spearhead with his boomerang and threw it up to Momo, who was flying above him in the air. The winged lemur collected spears as they were thrown by Fire Nation soldiers, rendering them harmless. As a Golbat chased Momo, Totodile leaped upwards and Ice Punched it in the face, making it fall down frozen.

In front of the coal pile, Tyro and Haru raised up a huge amount of coal and squashed it between them to create a boulder; Graveler and Golem began working together to throw heaps of coal at the coming Machoke and Raticate. The Warden, meanwhile, was swiftly firing fireballs at targets while Magmar used Fire Punch on an attacking Gabite. Now Golem and Graveler began helping Haru and Tyro by helping them throwing the boulder at the door into the rig. It blasted a big boulder-shaped hole in the door.

As some Pokémon made a run for it, Tyro roared above the crowd, "Get to the ship! We'll hold them off!"

"Do not let them escape!" the Warden barked furiously to his army. Then he rallied a few troops, and they began to dam the exit with flames, making the fighting Pokémon leap over the flames.

Cody, Totodile, Aang, Katara and Sokka were trying to exit. When they saw the flames hit the wall in front of them, they turned about-face, and Aang began Bending a tiny tornado out of thin air. Cody saw that the end of the small tornado was aimed at the FireBenders.

"Guys! Throw me some coal!" the Avatar called out.

"On it!" Cody called as he and Totodile began shoveling piles of coal to their Air Nomad friend.

As the two Pokémon dug like dogs, Sokka and Katara started collecting and dropping coal into the top of the little whirlwind, which sped down the tube and flew at high speed to the Warden's men. They all got knocked down by the coal while their Pokémon tried using Super Fang and Karate Chop to bounce the coal back. Those deflected lumps of coal were reflected by Cody's Iron Tail and Totodile's Ice Punch.

For the finale, Tyro and two other EarthBenders Bended the entire coal dump, with the Warden and all his men on it, out of over the open water. The rebelling Pokémon did the same with the FireBenders' Pokémon, Magmar included.

At last, Magmar spoke its first and maybe final words: "WHY ME?" This, with its high voice, was a female.

"No, please! I can't swim!" the Warden pleaded with the EarthBenders.

Tyro retorted, "Don't worry. I hear cowards float."

And without delay, he and the others dropped them to the ocean below. Their Pokémon did the same.

**...**

Several Fire Nation ships, now under the command of the former prisoners, were steaming away easily from the rig. Appa, with Sokka, Aang, and Totodile on his head, swam next to the point ship. Cody and Katara shared a smile with each other as they looked back to the prison they were leaving behind. Cody hoped they didn't go there again, for the food and beds there were terrible.

But as he blushed when his whiskers brushed Katara's cheek, Cody noticed that her necklace seen earlier was now missing. He felt that he should tell her instantly, but he didn't want to spoil her happiness. This was a time for celebration, the day that the missing EarthBenders and their Pokémon returned home.

"Hey, Graveler. Are you happy you're halfway through evolving?" Cody asked the Rock/Ground type Pokémon.

"You bet!" Graveler cheered, his voice deeper since he evolved. "You wanna know how we got the keys for these ships?" When Cody nodded, Graveler went on with a smile, "I have my ways, buddy. I have my ways."

"I want to thank you two for saving me and Graveler. For saving us." Haru's voice snapped Cody out of his chat with the Rock/Ground type Pokémon. He was talking to Katara, the friend that had saved him and his people.

"No problem!" Cody piped up. This was his favorite phrase to say to someone who thanked him.

Katara just said modestly as she rubbed the back of her head, "All it took was a little coal."

Haru corrected her, "It wasn't the coal, Katara. It was you and Cody."

Tyro came up to the teenagers and clapped a hand onto the Water Tribe girl's shoulder. "Thank you for helping me and Golem find our courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. The same goes to you, Cody of the Pokémon Square. Our family and everyone here owe you two much."

"So I guess you're going home now?" Katara asked him, looking up at the big EarthBender.

"Yes, to take back our village," Tyro replied. Raising his voice and raising his left hand in a fist, just as Katara and Cody did back at the ship to address the former prisoners, he shouted, "To take back ALL of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!"

"Yeah! Earth Kingdom! Earth Kingdom!" Golem roared, pumping his fist in the air.

As the former prisoners and their Pokémon cheered, Cody leapt up and down on his hind paws, joining in the cheers. This was truly a day to celebrate, for the EarthBenders were also going to liberate their homes from Fire Nation rule.

"Come with us."

Cody whipped around from the celebration; to his horror, he realized that Haru was speaking to Katara. He felt as if his heart had stopped and dropped down to his belly, for he didn't want her to leave. The task to take Aang to the Northern Water Tribe and save the world was much more important for right now.

To his relief, Katara replied politely, "I can't. Your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole."

At this, she and Cody looked across them to see Aang still on top of his bison's head. The Avatar was Bending a chunk of coal about in the air as he laid out on his back on Appa's head. Cody felt that he could maybe meet Torkoal, the Treasure Town elder; the Live Coal Pokémon could teach him a thing or two about coal.

Haru seemed to understand, for he smiled and continued talking with his new Water Tribe friend. "That's him, isn't it? The Avatar."

"Yeah," Graveler commented. "He sure kicked butt back there!"

Cody purred, "And how!"

"Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me," Haru went on. "I never thought Graveler and I would see my dad and his Golem again. I only wish there was some way..."

_To help you in return. _Cody knew that those were his next words. But Haru didn't say it.

"I know." Katara reached for her necklace and flinched in astonishment when it was gone. "My mother's necklace! It's gone!"

Cody knew that the happy time was over. "Not good! Why didn't you fasten it tighter?"

Katara looked at him with frantic in her eyes. "I didn't know it was gonna get lost!" She gave a sigh and looked up at the setting sun. "Oh, where did it go?"

**...**

"Whoever set this wall up did a poor job at it," Zuko commented.

"You got that right. When we catch that Warden, he'll get sacked," Absol commented.

The Disaster Pokémon and the banished prince of the Fire Nation were inspecting the rig that the prisoners had escaped from. They had heard of a rebellion going on, and they went to the rig to explore and help out. But when they arrived, there was no one on board at the moment.

Suddenly, something shiny caught Absol's eye. Shiny stuff always attracted him. Instead of keeping the shiny thing to himself, he called out, "Zuko! I found something!"

His owner came over and picked the thing up, wreathed in the glory of a fiery red sunset holding the item up. "This is the peasant girl's necklace."

"What peasant girl?" Absol asked him.

"You weren't with me when I went to the Southern Water Tribe. This was before I bought you from the meat market," Zuko replied. "She's travelling with the Avatar. We can use this to our advantage."

Absol nodded in agreement before joining his owner at watching the sunset. And it reminded him of cakes, which made him quite hungry.

_To be continued..._

**...****...**

**AvatarCat12: Well, I'm glad that's done and over with! I've got nothing interesting to say for the moment, so let's just wrap this chapter up and get to the preview called A Just Reward. Sorry!**

**Anyone who reviews this chapter will get virtual Shiny Geodude plush dolls with Easter eggs filled with any chocolate you choose. I will not allow flames on there; they'll be used for heating the oven up to make pizza. But I DO allow constructive criticism and advice, just as long as it's not too harsh.**

**Preview: Cody sees that Katara has not been feeling right after her necklace vanished. And when she goes missing in the woods, will Cody get to her on time? If he DOES find her, will he get out of the nearest danger?**

**See ya next time!**


	10. A Just Reward

**AvatarCat12: Here we are, everyone. We're at the chapter where we last left off from. And to make sure things go okay, I'm gonna delete the original version of this story. So I was wondering if you're all okay with it. And I see there haven't been any reviews yet, so please PLEASE review soon!**

**And after this chapter, I'll start making the rest of Book 1 until all the way to Book 3 or The Promise. Don't forget Avatar Mystery Dungeon 2: Legend Of Korra. Now let's get on with the disclaimer and the rest of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I will NEVER own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Pokémon. Never have, and never will.**

**Summary: Cody sees that Katara has not been feeling right after her necklace vanished. And when she goes missing in the woods, will Cody get to her on time? If he DOES find her, will he get out of the nearest danger?**

**Uploading Date: March 26, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_A Just Reward_

It was around a day or two since the escape of the EarthBender prisoners. Appa had to recover at the hometown of Haru, whose mother was now very delighted that her family was reunited and that the FireBenders were now gone. Plus, Graveler had made a tiny statue of Cody and Katara, which was now very skillfully shaped thanks to him evolving.

Despite the festivity, though, Cody saw that Katara hadn't smiled a lot lately; in fact, she looked down about something. Then he remembered what happened: the loss of her mother's necklace. He wished he could comfort her, but there wasn't anything for the young Pikachu to do except to let her recover.

Little did he know that after he saved her life twice, she would save his life in return.

**...**

After Rescue Team Avatar left Haru's village, they went to camp somewhere that Aang had mentioned riding on Hopping Llamas. Cody had no clue about what those were except that they were llamas that could apparently hop. He never knew that llamas could hop, but this would be one moment that he wouldn't want to miss.

At the moment, the group was setting up the tents and ready to set up camp for the night. They were getting ready to help out with the cooking, but Katara wasn't there. Earlier, she had said she was going for a walk in the woods and hadn't come back for a while. Cody was very worried about her safety, and the others looked concerned also, for they kept looking over to the forest she went into.

"Hey, Cody?" Aang's voice made him turn from where he was observing an ant hill. "When do you think Katara will show up for dinner?"

Cody looked away as he replied, "I don't know. She didn't say anything about what time she'd come back. What about Sokka and Totodile? Do they know?"

"Sorry, buddy. I don't know either." Totodile was helping Sokka set up another tent. "Maybe we should start dinner without her."

But that made Sokka glare at him as he snapped, "No way. There's no way we're leaving my sister out of anything! We're a team, remember?"

That made Totodile nod and carry on with his work. In spite of what his friend told him, the Big Jaw Pokémon didn't lose his jolly nature. Instead, he kept whistling a little song to himself while he worked like a dwarf from a certain Disney movie.

"Look," Cody told Aang, turning back to him. "How about I find her? When I do, I'll bring her back."

The AirBending Avatar gave the young male Pikachu a grateful look. "Thanks, Cody. I hope you find her really soon."

Cody nodded, stood up, and went to his backpack to toss it over his shoulder. He sauntered over to where Sokka and Totodile were still setting up the tents; those two would still be busy while Aang would try to find something for dinner. After giving them a nod, he turned about-face, got onto four paws, and raced off into the forest.

Still, Cody couldn't help but worry for Katara. He remembered when she was almost killed by the grizzly bear, and he didn't want to leave her like that ever again. If anything bad happened to her, he would never forgive himself or anything that would hurt her. So Cody looked onwards towards the forest, occasionally climbing up trees or boulders to survey the area around him.

**...**

Cody looked up from the branch he clung to, for he had to avoid a wild Rhyhorn, which was probably targeting him for practice. Luckily, as he scaled up the oak tree, the big Rock/Ground type Pokémon butted head-first into the trunk and staggered away as a result. So he climbed down the tree and got ready to continue his search for Katara.

_Let's hope I get to her before something else does._

But while he was still walking around, he heard a soft sound that made him stop in his tracks. At first, he thought it was scuffling noises from a browsing animal, but it sounded different. When he strained his ears, he suddenly realized that someone was crying.

"Katara? You there?" Cody called out.

"C-Cody? Is that you?"

His ears quivering more than ever, he pushed his way through the bramble bushes at a fast pace. Cody didn't want to know what to do if Katara got injured, but he wanted to make sure if she was all right. When he finally reached her, his heart pounded with sympathy.

Katara was looking at him from sitting under another oak tree, and Cody saw that she had a look of grief and surprise on her face. He got nearer and saw some tears leak down the side of her face and fall to the ground. On impulse, Cody reached up to her and laid a reassuring paw on her leg. Despite not knowing what happened to her, he wanted to help her any way he could.

Cody leaped up onto her lap and began licking the tears from her cheeks, asking, "Are you okay? What's wrong? Why're you crying?"

The Water Tribe girl ruffled his head fur with her hand before she gulped, "I-I'm sorry, Cody. It's just...you remember when we freed Haru, his Graveler, and the other prisoners?"

"Yeah."

"And...you remember when I...when I lost my...my mother's necklace?" she rasped on.

Cody understood. "Oh... So you're sad because of her necklace?"

Katara nodded sadly. "That...was the only thing my mother left for me before she died. Now I lost it and...I don't know if..."

"But can't you make another one?" Cody told her. "I mean, you can try getting some string and some silver..."

"You don't understand!" Katara shrieked, making him step away in alarm. But when she saw him back away, she rasped, "I'm _so_ sorry, Cody. It's just...n-now that I lost my mom's only heirloom, it would be an insult to...to her memory. And if she finds out, then..." But she didn't go on, for she lowered her head to her knees, covered her face with her arms, and continued to cry.

Cody felt his entire heart ache in complete sympathy for Katara. He knew the pain of losing a family member he loved, for he recalled his great-grandmother's death when he was a human. At the moment, Katara's pain at the loss of a family treasure was so agonizing that the past did not matter for right now. She needed help right away or she could become too unhappy to go on with the mission.

So he brushed himself against her body like a cat and, when she looked down at him with tears in her eyes, leapt into her lap and started brushing away the tears around her eyes with his forepaw. Cody really hated it when Katara was distressed like this, and he hated to see her cry. It almost made him cry himself by seeing her like this.

He crooned, "Katara...it's gonna be okay. I hate to see you cry; it makes me cry too. Look, I'm not always a guy for comfort words, but let me tell you this. About your mom finding out about the necklace...she'll be more proud of you when she'll see you and your brother helping Aang. I know that necklace was important to you, but I found another thing that counts more: your heart. You're the best girl I've known so far and I'm proud to be your friend. Your mom would love you just the same."

"R-Really? You mean that?" Katara rasped, gulping to clear her throat.

"Yeah. I promise," Cody replied, smiling up at her. He hugged her tighter as he repeated softly, "I promise."

Katara looked down at him with a grateful smile through the sadness as she hugged him to her heart. Cody felt her heartbeat thumping with his, and he saw that they were beating together at the same rhythm. He could even feel her body tremble with sobs being held back, which made him cling to Katara even more. Several tears trickled down her face and fell on top of his head, but he didn't mind.

When he looked back up at her, he saw Katara wiping the tears away with one hand and rubbing his left cheek with her other hand. Cody could tell she was cheered up now, thanks to his brand of help.

As soon as this was done, Katara smiled down at him with a weak smile and whispered, "Thank you so much, Cody. I-I don't know what to do if..."

Cody held his paw to her lips and said, "It's no problem. I'm just happy that you're happy again. Just...be happy." Then, as the two hugged some more, he let go and said, "The others are waiting for us; we're all making dinner together. You wanna help?"

"Y-yes." Her blue eyes were filled with joy as she nodded and smiled. "We should get back to camp."

Cody nodded as he leapt off of her, letting her get up by herself. He was more than happy to see Katara feeling much better than she felt a few moments ago. The male Pikachu couldn't help but feel really loyal to her after that, and he promised to protect her no matter what.

**...**

Finally, Katara and Cody started their trek back to the camp where the others were at. Katara couldn't believe that she ambled out this far while she was upset, but she saw that she hadn't noticed. Along the way back to their camp, Cody was walking beside her as they talked about brothers.

"So your brother doesn't like you?" Katara asked with shock. "Your brother makes Sokka look like a nobleman!"

Cody looked up at her and replied, "Well, he doesn't HATE me, but he still didn't like me."

Katara nodded as if she couldn't believe it. Then, remembering what Cody said as he comforted her, she said, "Cody, remember back when you said you weren't a guy for words of comfort?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah."

"Well...I think you ARE one for comfort words," she went on. "But I have a question for you: how were you able to say something so touching?"

Cody blushed at this and started to explain. But before he could, the ground suddenly gave way under his paws, and he fell into a hole. Katara felt horror hold her heart when she saw the young male Pikachu fall into the hole, yowling with surprise; he could get hurt in the fall due to his size. And as if things weren't worse, there was a thump, a twang, and...something slicing at flesh.

"Cody! What's wrong?" she called. Then, when she peered over the rim of the hole, she gasped at what she saw.

Cody was lying on the ground, his paws fumbling in the mud and his yellow fur stained with mud and something that looked like blood. Then she saw it: a piece of sharp wire tied to the end of a stick in the ground roping itself around his neck, cutting into his flesh each time he moved. The male Pikachu opened his eyes weakly to stare up at her, blood dripping from his mouth.

_It's...it's a tiger bear trap! _Katara thought in horror. It was perhaps laid there for the big Tiger-Bear to be caught, but Cody had become an accidental victim. Out loud, she called down to him, and he looked up again.

"Cody, don't move! I'll get help for you!" she called down to him. When he merely moaned in reply, she raced off into the forest towards the camp, shouting for help, "Someone help us! My Pikachu's dying! Someone please! Help!"

"Who's dying?"

Totodile had joined up smiling with Katara, Aang and Sokka behind him; the three of them were carrying stuff in their hands for dinner. She almost forgot about going with Cody to gather stuff for dinner, but she didn't want to abandon her Pokémon friend. Not like this.

"Totodile! Thank the Spirits I found you!" Katara told him. "Look, Cody and I were walking back from when he comforted me about my mom's necklace, and then..."

"And then what? Did you two kiss?" the Big Jaw Pokémon teased with a smile on his face.

Sokka glared at Totodile and was ready to scold him for that, but Katara, although blushing, beat him there. She yelled, "How could you joke about this? Your best friend's dying right now in a tiger bear pit trap!"

But Totodile just gave her a confused look. "What's a...tiger bear trap?"

"A tiger bear trap is like a normal bear trap," Aang suddenly spoke up, his dark gray eyes filled with shock. "Except that, instead of having the trap that traps its foot, it's like a trap for a Hog Monkey. It constricts and crushes the animal's neck; the more the animal struggles, the tighter the trap becomes. And then, after a bit of struggling, the animal will die."

"And what about an animal the size of a Pikachu?" Totodile asked him, the jolly look on his face wiped off. Now he looked really horrified and shocked.

But Aang's face had a grim look as he said, "As for that animal...well...it could die quicker. A friend of mine and I've seen a hunter using that before I got frozen."

Totodile's orange eyes widened with shock as he dropped his stuff and went back to camp in a hurry. Giving each other worried glances, the three humans had run after him with Momo gliding in after them. When they made it back, Katara saw that Totodile was throwing some certain stuff into his backpack in a state of panic.

Even Momo and Appa seemed to know about this danger, for Momo's fur was bristling while Appa was groaning lightly.

When he saw the humans watching him, Totodile snapped, "What're you three waiting for! Get something that'll help us out! Cody's in danger!" To Katara, he added, "Show us where he's at!"

**...**

Trying to remember where Cody was at, Katara tried to ask the local Pokémon about where he was. But a staggering Rhyhorn was slurring something about a "stupid little Pikachu" making annoying moaning noises. After thanking the Horn Pokémon, Katara and the others went in the direction he grudgingly pointed his horn to.

At first, however, she got a little lost because she couldn't remember where the spot was. But suddenly, she caught a foul tang of blood in the air and recoiled at the stench of the blood. Then Katara mentally kicked herself for that; what she had smelled was Cody's blood, which meant he was anywhere nearby. She didn't know how she smelled his blood, but she mused that Cody's tracking skills came in handy now.

Finally, they had managed to find the hole where Cody had fallen into. But what she saw below made her start to cry again: Cody's condition was worsening. He was rasping harder than ever, blood was now pooling around his body, and his blue-green eyes were glazing over.

"CODY!" Katara screamed as she jumped down into the hole. Not caring if her clothes were getting dirty, she dug into the dirt, trying to free the injured Pikachu.

Aang shouted down to her, "Katara! What're you doing?"

Katara looked frantically up at him as she shouted back, "I'm saving Cody!"

"Then let us help too! Don't take all the moose lion's share of the glory!" Sokka called down to her.

"Cody's the only one who comforted me while I was upset!" Katara snapped back, getting angry that the others were trying to interfere. She felt it was her own fault that Cody was trapped in this mess. "Besides, he saved me two times already! He saved me from that bear and from the leader of the sexist gang! So I'm gonna save HIM from this trap myself!"

The three others exchanged nervous glances before Totodile threw the bag down to her, calling, "Well, at least use this bag!" After a moment of thinking, he finally shouted, "You know what? That's my best friend in danger! Let me help you dig that nail out!"

At this, he jumped down into the hole next to Katara and Cody; when he landed in the hole, he started digging in the mud with his hands. Katara helped him by digging alongside him, but the wire seemed to cut inch by inch more into Cody's throat, making him choke. Carefully touching his mud-covered fur, she watched as Totodile got out some pliers from his bag and pushed it into the mud, trying to snip at the wooden nail.

Finally, she heard a snap as Totodile pulled the pliers out with the broken wooden nail in its iron grip. Katara cautiously picked Cody up and managed to set him down in front of his friend, who carefully snipped the wire off of his neck. Storm clouds brewed above the two of them as Aang leaped down into the hole to clean the mud off of Cody. The mud was cleared off of his pelt, but he wasn't moving; he was lying as still as a stone.

He was apparently dead.

"Cody?" Katara whispered as she tried to wake him up.

When he didn't, however, she felt tears of sorrow drop down from her cheeks and land onto his still face with his eyes closed. Katara couldn't help but feel that it was her fault. She felt that if she hadn't run off into the woods, then Cody wouldn't be dead. He had succeeded in saving her life, but she had failed to save his life.

Totodile's amber eyes were flooding with tears as he walked over to Cody and laid his hand on his heart. He looked up at Katara, nodded, and began ripping apart the trap; it was the item that had cost his best friend his life.

Katara's heart was breaking and the rain fell as she moaned, "C-Cody...this is all my fault! If I hadn't run off into these woods, he wouldn't have died!"

"It's not your fault!" Sokka had jumped down into the hole beside to his sister. "This could've happened to anyone."

"It IS my fault!" Katara wailed. "I was so upset about losing Mom's necklace and I had run off into the woods to be by myself! Cody came to find me and comfort me! And now...now that he's dead...it IS my fault!"

Aang laid his hand on her shoulder and reassured her, "It's gonna be okay, Katara. It'll be okay."

But Katara yelled at him, "No it won't! I caused him to die!" She hugged Cody's blood-stained body closer to her and sobbed loudly into his fur as the rain fell on her and her friends.

"Not...your fault..."

Katara gasped with shock and delight as she looked down; Cody had opened his eyes slowly and looked up into her beautiful blue eyes. She felt her heart repair and tears of joy flow down her cheeks onto her friend's tired yet smiling face. The Water Tribe girl had succeeded in saving his life now, and she gave him a warm smile.

"Cody!" Totodile rushed over to gently hug his friend. "You...you're alive!"

Sokka gently took the young crocodile-like Pokémon away. "Leave him alone now. He needs his rest."

Cody rasped, "I...don't need any rest..." At this, he bent his head low and snipped off the rest of the wire with his teeth. Trying to get out of Katara's arms, he finally yielded and added, "Maybe just…a little rest…"

At first, the others didn't know how to get out of the hole, until Appa managed to suck them out of the hole with AirBending. Then they went to a nearby river to wash themselves off, but Cody had slipped back into an unconscious state.

...

After Rescue Team Avatar made it back to camp, Katara wasted no time in trying to heal Cody. She had retrieved every healing item Totodile had in his bag and used it on the injured Pikachu. Totodile himself wasn't angry at that; instead, he was worried for his friend and helped Katara in any way to help Cody recover.

When dinner (which was soup of fish and vegetables, but only Aang hadn't had any fish) was over, Aang and Sokka managed to give him something to eat. Also, Cody hadn't been able to talk much ever since he had been freed from the trap, but he was eating well. And though he could walk a little bit, Katara had volunteered to carry the male Pikachu to wherever he needed to go.

Finally, night had arrived over the land and everyone was already asleep...except for two in one tent. Cody was reading one of his Warriors books to Katara and, though his voice sounded raspy from having his throat nearly torn out, he could still speak clearly. The Water Tribe teenage girl was listening with interest as Cody recounted the events in the book called "Sunrise."

"'The ThunderClan leader lay on his side on a narrow path between close-growing ferns,'" Cody was saying. "'His limbs jerked feebly and his eyes glazed into nothing. Foam flecked at his muzzle. Around his neck, in his flame-colored fur, was a thin shiny tendril, leading to a stick driven into the earth.'"

"Cody, please! Just stop!" Katara suddenly found herself shouting. Now she didn't want to know what happened next.

Cody looked up at her, hurt in his blue eyes. "Was it something I said?"

Katara felt guilty about that, but she said, "No. I'm sorry. It's just that...what you were describing sounded much like the trap...that almost..." But she didn't say anymore and leaned towards Cody, scooping him up into her arms and hugging him tight. She murmured, "Oh, Cody...I was afraid I would lose you."

"Well, I'm here now," Cody replied, leaning up to lick her cheek. "And don't say that it was your fault. I CHOSE to find you and comfort you, and that trap could've injured anyone. So don't say you did anything to get me hurt. It wasn't your fault. It's nobody's fault."

Katara never knew the Rescue Team Avatar leader could be so logical in this state, and that took her breath away. Feeling more tears slide down her cheek, she hugged him tighter, using a hand to wipe away the tears.

"Thank you, Cody," Katara whispered.

Cody looked up at her, pure gratitude in his eyes. "I should be the one thanking you, Katara. Thank you for...saving my life today."

Katara laid down on her blanket to let Cody climb onto her stomach as she rubbed him behind the ears. "You're very welcome."

At this, the two of them fell asleep. But while Cody was sleeping, Katara stayed up a bit to sing this softly to him. It was a song that her mother sang to her when she was a little girl:

"_We are so far away from that isolated road_

_That many have taken years ago._

_Step by step, day by day, looking for somewhere to stay_

_On this Earth that we can call our dear home._

_All our tears and struggles shall not waste on in the past._

_They can help us endure any kinds of battle._

_You can sleep through the pain that you endure every day,_

_For soon, your travels can be a peaceful end."_

Slowly closing her eyes, Katara managed to see the moon rising and saw Cody's fur glow silver in the moonlight. Before she fell asleep, she managed to sing these last verses to him:

"_Now and now, forever, your friends will be by your side._

_Deep inside, you shall know that you'll never be alone._

_Sing a song, share the song, and sing it out loud and proud._

_As you sit beside your dear friends,_

_Under the moonlight."_

After this, Katara fell fast asleep with Cody snoozing peacefully on her stomach. It had been a very eventful day, one that would not be forgotten.

_To be continued..._

**...**

**AvatarCat12: I hope this chapter is as good as the others! Plus, about the song lyrics, that's from my own made-up ending lyrics in English for Ginga Densetsu Weed. And I got the trap thing from two movies: Watership Down and Homeward Bound (which I don't and never will own).**

**In Watership Down, Bigwig gets caught in a fox trap and nearly dies until the other rabbits rescue him. And in Homeward Bound, there wasn't a fox trap, but Shadow the old Golden Retriever gets himself stuck in a mud-hole and sprains a foreleg a bit. So I hope you all like that part; after the review thing, I'll give you the preview for WaterBending War.**

**Whoever reviews this chapter and the other chapters will get virtual Pikachu plush dolls with an Easter egg filled with chocolate. I don't allow flames on here, but I DO allow some constructive criticism. Flames will be used for making S'Mores or roasting kabobs, while no trolling constructive criticism is allowed, though the normal version is allowed.**

**Preview: Cody and Katara are in town getting some stuff, when they see two kids doing too much water balloon pranks on passing people. So they devise a plan to teach them a lesson.**

**See ya next time!**


	11. WaterBending War

**AvatarCat12: I think I might another part of the Avatar (Mystery Dungeon) comics because this one takes place before The Winter Solstice. But don't worry; the episode will come around after this one. And since I got The Lost Adventures now, I'll be updating a lot more comics in between.**

**And I've decided on something new. For now, I'll say the summary first, next will be the disclaimer, and then the updating date. So go along with it, but since I've been saying the disclaimer first, I think this new thing might fade fast.**

**Summary: Cody and Katara are visiting a nearby town when they see kids pranking others too much. So they decide to do something about it and make up a plan to teach them a lesson. Meanwhile, Totodile play a playful prank on Aang and Sokka.**

**Disclaimer: If you think I own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Pokémon, then you've got another thing coming. I don't own 'em and I never will.**

**Updating Date: April 1, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_WaterBending War_

The town was quite small, but it was bustling with life. Cody looked from left to right as he watched people go about in their shopping or dining out. Beside him, Katara was buying something from a market, thankfully accepting the items. She was shopping for some food for the journey, and she had asked Cody if he wanted to come along with her. Ignoring the pain in his neck, he agreed.

Ever since Cody had been rescued from the pit trap, just like him with her, Katara did not let him out of her sight. At first, he had been slightly irritated about her keeping an eye on him all the time, but he got over it. He knew that he himself had kept an eye on her after she was killed two times, so he called himself a hypocrite for being angry. But the only time she did not keep an eye on him was when she would get changed for the day.

As he read through his new Seeker Bears book (Island Of Shadows), he heard a farewell and looked up. Katara had finished her shopping and began walking away from the seller. But before she could leave, she bent down and picked Cody up like he was a kitten.

"Katara, please," Cody pouted a bit like a baby. "Not in front of the folks."

"Sorry," Katara giggled as she held him in her arms. "But you're still recovering from the trap. Remember?"

That made Cody give her the derp look. He completely forgot about that, for when he would try and speak, he would rasp and cough a bit. So he looked down and mewed, "Sorry."

Fortunately, she was smiling at him. "It's okay. We better go back to camp."

"Yeah," the Pikachu replied, looking down.

But just when his friend was about to reply, a sound made them turn around. They saw two kids up in a window on a tall building giggling as they held a water balloon before them. While Cody and Katara watched on, they saw a man passing under the window right on the water balloon's path. The kids dropped it down, and it crashed onto his head, water bursting out like juice from a fruit.

Cody watched the man walk away grumbling before turning back to Katara. She seemed to have a slight irritated look on her face as she glared up at where the boys left. But she wasn't the only one; a Sudowoodo was also glaring up at the window.

"Excuse me," Cody asked him. "You know those kids?"

"Barely!" the Sudowoodo exclaimed. "There I was, praising myself on learning my new Rock Slide move, when BOOM! A water balloon fell on top of me! You know my species is scared of water!"

"So they drop water balloons down onto people just for the heck of it?" Katara asked him.

Sudowoodo nodded. "Yes. I was gonna say to use their force against them. But I was too busy about my Rock Slide attack to tell anyone that."

Cody frowned at him. "Really? I think you gotta pay more attention to your surroundings some more."

"Well, what about you then?" the Imitation Pokémon snapped. "I saw you staring around space and always reading books!"

Now it was Katara who frowned at him. "He's autistic. It's natural for him to stare in space."

Sudowoodo looked mildly ashamed. "Oh. My apologies. Anyway I can help?"

"No," Katara retorted. "I think you helped us enough."

The Rock type Pokémon nodded in fear of being splashed by her and darted away from them. Cody looked up in time to see Katara in a thinking pose, obviously thinking.

"Hey, what're you thinking about?" he asked her with concern.

Katara looked down at her Pikachu friend. "Nothing much. Just thinking of what Sudowoodo told us. He said something about using their own force against them, right?"

Cody nodded.

"So what if we did just that?" she asked him.

At that, Cody leapt onto her shoulder and thought alongside her. What she and Sudowoodo said was true; if they got some payback against those kids for what they did, then everyone would be all right from the pranks. Once those two kids learned their lesson, they would think twice before striking others with water balloons.

As he remembered pranks he had seen on his travels, he saw Katara give a small murmur to herself before nodded. Cody was sure she knew just the thing.

**...**

The next morning, after explaining her plan to her friends, Katara left camp and arrived at town. Cody had come along with her; despite still feeling sore from nearly dying, he wanted to make sure she was alright. There, they began moseying around the town's streets and looked up to the roofs as a fair caution. If Cody didn't look up to see what was above them, he wouldn't expect another water balloon falling down on him and Katara, the new targets.

So they both walked around the street they saw the imps at, acting like innocent onlookers. Little scuffling noises from above told Cody that the kids were getting ready to pelt their new targets. Cody let a small smirk come across his face; those kids had no idea what they were going to get themselves into.

"There's another one!" he heard one of the kids whisper.

Just then, a small bomb dropped down at them, and Cody could hear the water swishing about on the inside. And just before it hit them, Katara flicked her hand at it, Bending the water inside and sending it back up towards the kids. Another water balloon was thrown down at them, but Cody heftily threw it back up with his tail. Scuffling noises told Cody that they leapt away from the bomb in time, but that was all part of the plan.

To make them remember this, Katara flicked her hand to a nearby barrel of water. She carefully made a sphere from it and sent it right up towards the kids, squealing and splashing noises heard as the kids got soaked. The kids looked down at her with shock and fear as their eyes widened at this sly master. A growl from Cody made them back away even more.

"That should show them," Cody sighed with relief.

All around her, the people of the village began cheering for them. Despite not expecting this, Cody liked it when the praise warmed his fur like the sun. When asked how she had thought up something like that, Katara began to laugh.

"Only a moron would challenge a WaterBender to a water war!" she chuckled.

Cody nodded before turning around to smile at the crowd some more. But what he saw made him smirk a little: Sokka was sneaking through the crowd towards them with a water balloon in his hand. Totodile was beside him, chuckling as he made a few Water Guns at the ground before joining him again.

_This ought be good._

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat12: Sorry for the short chapter; this wasn't really too long. But here's a bit of an explanation for this.**

**In the summary thing, I said I would include a part with Aang and Sokka having a prank pulled on them. Well...April Fools! I didn't include that part here, but I MIGHT add it to a later chapter later in the story.**

**Now we're getting partly back to where we once were before we got making the remake. But let's go to the review thing first. Whoever reviews this chapter will receive a virtual plush doll of either Katara or Pikachu. Flames aren't allowed on this FanFic; instead, they'll be used (as usual) for making S'Mores. I DO allow constructive criticism and advice on here, as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: Rescue Team Avatar arrives at a village terrorized by a dangerous spirit. In the meantime, Iroh and his Torkoal go missing, so Zuko and Absol have to find them.**

**See ya next time! And Happy April Fool's Day!**


	12. The Spirit World

**AvatarCat12: Finally! We're getting back on the right track! Before we go on, I'd like to say this. I know my stories haven't got a lot of reviews lately, and I understand. If no one wants to review it, fine. But if you do, then that'll be great.**

**But anyways, I've already got certain "characters" showing up on certain chapters, so they've been filled. But for others, name any, and I'll put 'em in there,  
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**But that's enough of that. Let's get on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Pokémon and Avatar: The Last AirBender don't belong to me. Never have, never will!**

**Summary: Rescue Team Avatar arrives at a village terrorized by a dangerous spirit. In the meantime, Iroh and his Torkoal go missing, so Zuko and Absol have to find them.**

**Uploading Date: May 27, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The Winter Solstice: The Spirit World**_

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big soft cottony heap."

Cody nodded while he sat on Katara's back; she was lying down on her stomach as she looked over Appa's saddle at the fluffy clouds. He laid down on her back, his head resting gently against her behind as he looked around.

It was a beautiful day with lazy puffy white clouds and sunshine as Appa flew over a valley. A small red bird flew above Cody's head as he lazily lifted his paw towards it. Aang was in Appa's driving seat, leaning back and enjoying himself with a reed in his mouth. Sokka was carving some kind of thing in wood while Totodile's head was propped up against his knee, reading an animal book.

"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka snorted with amusement.

Katara rolled her eyes. "You're hilarious," she retorted sarcastically.

"We did it before," Totodile spoke up, looking up from his animal book.

Sokka stared down at him with wonder. "Really? When?"

"We were trying to get a Pokémon named Rayquaza to destroy a meteor that was gonna destroy the world," Cody explained. "There were clouds surrounding us, and we could feel them. They felt really soft like wool."

Katara turned her head around to smile at her Pikachu friend. "You and Totodile sure went on a lot of adventures."

Cody smiled back at her. "Yeah. We sure did. But I'm not willing to go through a cloud again too soon."

"I'll try it!" Aang piped up, looking as excited as ever.

Before Katara or Cody could stop him, the Avatar jumped off Appa's side, laughing and hurtling down through the clouds with his staff. Sokka and Katara (as Cody got off of her) looked over the side as he plunged through a cloud, Cody and Totodile joining them. A moment later, Aang landed next to Totodile with his glider; he appeared to be soaking wet.

As Aang Bended himself dry, he said, "Turns out clouds are made of water!"

Sokka and Katara eyed him curiously while Totodile snorted, "Everyone knows that! Tell it to a Castform; they're experts in weather!"

"All right then," Aang told him, an eager look still on his face. "When I see them, I'll ask them!"

This made Cody and Totodile share amused looks. It seemed that the Avatar was quite such an optimistic kid that he wouldn't pay attention to sarcasm.

Suddenly, Katara turned away and pointed ahead, asking, "Hey, what's that?"

Cody looked to where she was pointing to. Up ahead, the floor of the valley below around the river was black instead of vegetation green.

"It's like a scar," Sokka added.

"True that," Totodile said. "This reminds me of how the Grand Canyon was formed."

Cody gave his best friend a suspicious look. "You don't remember how, do you?"

Totodile shook his head. "Nope."

A look of worry on his face, Aang directed for Appa to lower to the ground. When Appa got near, the flying bison landed in a clearing that was wiped completely spotless except for spots of ashes littering the former forest floor. Cody and Totodile followed the humans' gaze and stared around them in shock and dismay.

Burnt tree stumps dotted the barren landscape; no signs of animal life were to be seen. The five had dismounted Appa and were walking around, taking in as much of this as they could. Aang had walked ahead of them, Katara on his left back near Appa and Sokka to his right. Cody and Totodile lagged behind to see more and inspect more. Not only were there no plants or animals here, there were no Pokémon.

_What happened here? _Cody wondered with shock. He had seen burnt places before like Mount Blaze, though there was some plant life and Pokémon life there. But nothing like this.

"Listen. It's so quiet," Sokka said, straining hard to hear anything. "There's no life anywhere."

"That's what WE were thinking," Totodile told him. "Some minds think alike, you know."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah. I suppose so."

"Aang? Are you okay?"

Cody followed Katara's gaze over to where Aang was sitting at. He seemed to have sat down and bowed his head low, leaving Cody unable to see his expression. But the autistic Pikachu could tell that he was probably upset.

Shuffling noises made Cody turn his head back to see Sokka inspecting some footprints. He got near those footprints and took a deep smell; even though the scents were faint, there was very much no denying what he had scented.

"Fire Nation!" Sokka spat angrily as he straightened up. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

"Shh!" Katara hissed so suddenly.

Sokka turned to glare at his sister. "What? I'm not allowed to be angry?"

Totodile, who was standing there, retorted, "Yeah, you can get angry! But look at Aang, you ol' knucklehead."

The Water Tribe warrior gave him a stern glare, but the Big Jaw Pokémon gave him a sterner one. This made Sokka, Katara, and Cody turn to see where Aang was at now. The Avatar was standing ahead, clearly upset. He slowly sunk down to the ground onto his knees as he sighed. And then he started to run his hands sadly through the ashy dust.

Cody couldn't help but feel Aang's pain; he also hated to see a biome like a rainforest burned to the ground. Yet this was not a natural fire that had done this; it was the Fire Nation. He and the others walked over to Aang and sat around him, Cody leaping onto Aang's shoulder to give him a concerned look. The others gave him concerned looks too.

"Why would anyone do this?" Aang moaned. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen," Katara reassured him. "It has nothing to do with you."

But Aang insisted, "Yes it does. It's the Avatar's job to protect nature. But I don't know how to do my job."

This made Cody growl, "Hey! Didn't you listen? She said it's not your fault. So stop beating yourself up."

"Well, I'm sorry if I have different views," Aang retorted. "It's just...I don't know what to do."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole to find you a teacher," Katara replied.

Totodile nodded. "That, _and_ we'd like to see the North Pole. But I hope we don't stay long."

Cody nodded. "Katara's right. You're both searching for a mentor."

Aang scoffed. "Yeah...a _WaterBending_ teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me."

Cody could feel his mind race at the mention of the former Avatar. It had been Avatar Roku who had always appeared in his dreams along with Gardevoir. But he was still not ready to tell them that the FireBender had appeared in his dreams.

"The Avatar before you?" Sokka asked Aang. "He died over a hundred years ago. How are you supposed to talk to him?"

"...I don't know..." was all Aang said.

Momo leapt into his lap to curl up and began to chitter while Aang stroked his back. Cody and Totodile watched as Katara and Sokka came forth to lay a hand each gently onto his shoulders. The two Pokémon joined them and patted his arms like their respective friends were doing.

Little did they know that another Pokémon was watching them...

**...**

"Uncle! It's time to leave!"

Zuko was making his way through some reeds while Absol followed, sniffing the air. The Dark type Pokémon could tell Zuko was in a bad mood, and though he was a tough Pokémon, he did not want to make the banished prince angrier. So he kept his mouth shut and continued sniffing the air to find General Iroh.

Not only Iroh, but Torkoal was also missing. Absol was sure that if they kept following the trail, they would find Torkoal still walking. Yet the Live Coal Pokémon was also nowhere to be seen.

"Are you sure they went this way, Zuko?" Absol asked him.

Zuko nodded before getting back to calling. "Where are you? Uncle Iroh!"

But then, Absol noticed a Fire Nation uniform visible and hanging from the low branches of a tree. There was a faint smell of tea and jasmine as he and Zuko followed the scent towards an area with steam. And there was Iroh in a hot bath, the tub made out of rock. It was being fed by a stream coming out of the rocks behind it.

As for Torkoal, the Fire type Pokémon was resting beside Iroh...but not in the water. Instead, he was resting on one of the heated rocks beside the hot spring. Torkoal was letting out a sigh as he withdrew his head into his shell.

"Over here," Iroh replied lazily yet happily.

Absol moved forward to have a small dip, but Zuko held out a hand to stop him. Ignoring his partner's grumbling, he said, "Uncle? We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail, and I don't want to lose him!"

"You too, Torkoal," Absol muttered. Then so that Zuko couldn't hear, he added, "Even though I would like a soaking too."

"What was that?" Zuko asked, spinning around with fire in his eyes.

Absol muttered, "Nothing."

Iroh spoke up, "You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles? And Absol, would you like to join Torkoal on the warm rocks?"

Angrily, Zuko growled, "My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!"

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little," Iroh said as Absol began to move towards him. "The temperature's just right. I heated it myself."

The former general shifted his position slightly, put his hands together and breathed steam from his nostrils. This made Absol feel better as he dipped his forepaws into the water, but Zuko, who was obscured by steam, swatted the steam away.

"Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!" he snapped. To Absol, he added, "You too, Absol!"

"Fine," Absol growled, leaping out of the water.

Torkoal let out a big yawn, careful not to breathe out smoke, and rose to his feet.

"Very well," Iroh sighed as he rose to get up.

At this, Absol quickly looked away to not see him while Zuko put his hand up to strategically block the view of Iroh. _That's a smart move there, _Absol thought.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes?" the prince muttered. "But be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you and Torkoal. Let's go, Absol."

Absol nodded and prowled after the departing prince. Iroh let out a relaxed "Ahhhh..." while Torkoal, who was already halfway up on his feet, slowly laid back down and did the same thing. Right there, Absol had a sudden urge to go join them, but he knew what was more important.

And that was to find the Avatar. And to win the war.

**...**

"Don't look now. I think she's got an acorn."

"Where?"

"There."

Cody turned away from Aang, who was still down on the ground while upset, to see Katara calmly walking behind him. She appeared to be tossing a small acorn around in one hand with a sly smile on her face. Wanting to guess what she was up to, Cody walked over to where she was at wile Totodile went to join Sokka.

"Hey Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked her Avatar friend.

Aang shook his head. "No."

Noticing the acorn in her hand, Cody now knew what Katara was going to do and smiled up at her. Then the Water Tribe girl gently tossed the acorn over to Aang and watched as it bunked against the side of his head. This seemed to have taken him by surprise.

"Ow!" he yelped, looking over at Katara and Cody. As Cody laughed while Katara picked up another acorn, he asked, "Hey, how was that cheering me up?"

"Don't ask me," Cody replied, shrugging. "Ask her."

Sokka, who was watching this, started laughing, "Heh-heh...that cheered _me_ up."

Katara gave him a frown before looking down at Cody. Deciding that a little payback would help Aang, Cody leapt onto Katara's shoulder and whispered into her ear, pointing at Sokka. Smiling at his idea, the Water Tribe girl tossed the acorn at Sokka, also hitting the side of his head. That made Totodile smile at what she had done.

"Ow!" Sokka yelped, rubbing the side of his head. Sighing, he said, "Yeah, I probably deserved that."

Katara walked over to Aang and kneeled down beside him, Cody bounding down from her shoulder. She began talking to the Avatar, "These acorns are everywhere, Aang. That means the forest will grow back. Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back."

To the side, Momo dug franticly in the burnt earth, emerging with a double handful of acorns. Cody decided to help her explain it by drawing a picture of Fourtrees from the Warrior Cats books on the ground. Finally, Katara placed an acorn in the palm of Aang's hand and closed it. To the side, Sokka and Totodile watched on with suspicion yet understanding.

"Thanks, Katara," Aang replied, smiling up at her.

Katara gave him a warm smile before looking down at Cody's drawing. "Um...Cody? Is that Fourtrees from your Warrior Cats books?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah."

"It looks great," Aang told him. "Who knows? Maybe we can make one someday."

This made Katara give them a smile before looking up, suddenly gasping. Cody got into a battle pose only to relax when he saw who it was. It was just an old man in green using a walking stick as he approached the group. There was a look of hope all over his face as he looked Aang over.

"Hey, who are you?" Sokka asked, walking up to the old man.

Totodile rolled his eyes. "Dude, would a simple 'hello' kill you?" To the old man, he said, "Hey there! I'm Totodile!"

The old man nodded before looking back at Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings...are you the Avatar, child?"

Aang turned to Katara, who nodded her head as Cody did the same. He turned back to the old man and nodded his head in turn. However, this led to a lot of nodding coming from the group, even from the old man.

"Okay, enough of the Family Guy Star Wars nodding, McFarlane!" Cody finally called to no one. "Sheesh!"

"My village desperately needs your help," the old man said, ignoring that little scene. "Follow me."

**...**

The sun was about to go down beneath hills in the distance as the team arrived at the upper part of the walls of an Earth Kingdom village. The three humans and two Pokémon followed the old man into the village, looking around. Much of it had been burned out and destroyed.

Cody felt his heart beat in sympathy when he saw the ruins. Whatever was attacking their village did not show any mercy, though the people were still alive. Their Pokémon (which included a Poochyena and Caterpie) watched on in anxiety when they saw Rescue Team Avatar walk in front of them. Cody wanted to tell them that they meant no harm, but he knew that he and his friends were strangers to them.

Rescue Team Avatar entered one of the buildings where some villagers had gathered. As the old man introduced Aang to the people, a man (probably the village chief) walked over to them.

"This young man is the Avatar," the old man told the chief.

"The one and only!" Totodile added, pointing at him happily.

The chief turned to Aang and bowed his head. "So the rumors of your return _are_ true. It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence."

"Nice to meet you too," Aang replied, bowing back. He paused before going on, "So...is there something I can help you with?"

But something troubling came over the old chief's face. Cody watched as he turned away from them, sighing heavily. He felt that there was no use to hide feeling, or they would be problems for too long. "I'm not sure..." he muttered.

The other old man insisted, "Our village is in crisis. He's our only hope." To Rescue Team Avatar, he explained, "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei-Bai, the black and white spirit."

_Attacks? Is Hei-Bai a demon? _Cody wondered inside. He hated to find out what that spirit looked like; it would look too much like a black-&-white demon.

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah. What's it doing to you?" Totodile added.

"We do not know," the chief answered, moving to the entrance of the door they just entered. He looked at the setting sun and went on, "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

Katara was the one to ask, "What happens then?"

The first old man replied, "As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the spirit world grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely."

"Hei-Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here there is no telling what will happen," the chief added.

Cody saw a look of worry on Aang's face as the AirBender asked, "So what do you want me to do exactly?"

"Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the spirit world than the Avatar himself?" the old man asked rhetorically. "You are the great bridge between man and spirits."

"Right...that's me," Aang muttered, looking unconfident.

Now it seemed to Cody that the Avatar did not have a clue or the courage to face this task. And come to think of it, he was strongly reminded of himself when he first entered the Rescue Team business. Like Aang, Cody was unsure of what to do and quite cowardly thanks to his autism. Even the Pokémon he had battled thought he was weak because of it. But he had showed them all by saving the Pokémon world twice.

_And I believe Aang can save his world too, _he decided.

"Hey, 'great bridge guy', can I talk to you over here for a second?"

It was Katara. She was walking over to the window and looking over her shoulder at Aang. Cody took the chance to walk over to her and leap on her shoulder, looking at the setting sun. Aang and Sokka came over to talk privately with the other two, now free to. But so far, the other humans and Pokémon weren't bothering them one bit.

When they began talking, Katara began, "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all this."

"Yeah..." Totodile began.

But Cody told him, "Totodile, if you say 'yeah' for the third time, I'm gonna walk away."

Totodile gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh-heh...sorry 'bout that. I was gonna tell Aang that he looks like something the cat threw up and ate again." To the disgusted looks on the others' faces, he asked defensively, "What?"

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the spirit world," Aang replied, exasperated. "It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

"Well, there's Alakazam," Cody told him.

Aang stared down at him. "Alakazam?"

"That's the one," Totodile replied. "He's the leader of Team A.C.T., and his team's on good terms with us. Plus, he's super smart! Maybe HE can help you!"

The AirBender just shrugged as he looked away. Cody shared a worried glance with Katara before the WaterBender went on.

"So, can you help these people?" she asked him.

Aang gave a hefty sigh. "I have to try, don't I? Maybe whatever I have to do will just...come to me."

Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder and chittered loudly for his owner to hear. Aang was mildly surprised, but then his surprised look turned into a smile as he patted the pet lemur on the head. Cody walked up to Aang and looked up at him, giving him a frank smile and remembering his own early days in his career.

_He's a good Avatar, _Cody decided. _I'm sure he can do this._

Katara gave Aang a serene smile as she stood beside him. "I think you can do it, Aang."

"Not THINK, KNOW."

It was Totodile who had spoken. He and Sokka were walking towards them with the same smile Katara was giving Aang. When Sokka came to the small group, he laid a hand on Aang's other shoulder and said, "Yeah...we're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster."

Cody and Totodile playfully rolled their eyes at him before going forward to give their own good-luck speeches. But to Cody's dismay, a fluttering sound in his ears was making him groan as he turned away. While the others gave him a confused look, he looked out the window to see a small gray blur fly through the window. As the newcomer straightened itself up, Cody gaped at the newcomer with wonder.

It was a Starly, and it was shaking the dust off its feathers. But there was something about it that made Aang stare closely at it.

"Are you the same Starly from the southern Air Temple?" he asked the Starly.

"Sure am!" Starly squawked, launching into the air and landing on Aang's head. "Don't you remember what I said? I'm keeping an eye on you! Gyatso's Pidgeot was my grandfather! And don't ask. So I'm gonna help you out when you need it!"

Aang smiled up at the little Starling Pokémon while patting him on the head. Starly just gave a shrill cry of joy as he flew over to the window and stared out of the window.

**...**

Yawning, Torkoal rose slowly to his feet and looked over at Iroh. To his amusement, the former general was fast asleep in the hot spring, snoring quite loudly. A few Taillow resting on his shell chirped with surprise and took off into the forest, snapping at insects as they went. But when Torkoal looked up at the setting sun, he couldn't help but worry.

It was already past the late afternoon, and he remembered what Zuko had said. He had said that if Iroh and Torkoal didn't come back, they would leave without them. Torkoal was about to get into the water and wake Iroh up when a noise in the bushes startled the FireBender awake.

_Good timing, _Torkoal thought, blowing smoke out of his nostrils.

"Uh? Who's there?" Iroh groaned, looking around. Beside him on the warm rocks, Torkoal blew some more smoke out of his nostrils, ready to defend himself.

Then he saw the newcomer. It was a small rodent jumping onto the lip of the bath.

Iroh let it jump onto his outstretched hand, chuckling, "A meadow vole! I should have known. You startled me, little one." Then he let the vole go, leaned back in the bath, and put his hands behind his head.

"Heh-heh, seems I've dozed off and missed my nephew's deadline," Iroh admitted. "But it was a very sweet nap. Right, Torkoal?"

"Of course!" Torkoal spoke up. "But we DID miss Zuko's warning! Should we go back?"

Iroh chuckled again. "In a little bit, my friend. But remember: live for today. That is why they call it the present."

The vole started hopping up and down on the lip of the bath and made chittering noises. All of a sudden, it stopped, and the ground started shaking from deeper in the forest. It flipped around to see dust clouds rising from the forest and then hopped away.

Then Torkoal saw it. There was a ground disturbance or tremor moving towards them. Soon, it reached Iroh's hot spring, and two other shock waves approached the bath from Iroh's left and right. The old general and Torkoal were caught by surprise, and when the shockwaves reached the tub, he was quickly held fast by three triangular stones that were pushed into the tub. Torkoal was about to use Flamethrower at the stones, but a Gliscor flew down from the sky and pinned the Live Coal Pokémon down with his claws.

Just a second later, three EarthBenders appeared next to the tub behind each of the three stone projectiles holding Iroh imprisoned. An Earth Kingdom soldier took Iroh's uniform off the tree as his fellow officer walked up to the bath. Once again, Torkoal tried to get up, but another Gliscor flew down and pinned him down as well.

"He's a Fire Nation soldier," one EarthBender growled.

"He's no ordinary soldier," another soldier growled. "This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West, the once great General Iroh. And that's his pet Torkoal our Gliscor caught. But now, they're _our_ prisoners."

Torkoal looked over at Iroh, squinting unhappily at their disgraceful capture. Where were Absol and Zuko when they needed them the most?

**...**

The sun had nearly set as Aang left the meetinghouse building where he had met the chief. Starly sat on his shoulder, cheeping and looking around the village. The doors closed behind him. Aang began to walk through the village, hands defensively wrapped around his staff.

"Hello? Spirit, can you hear me?" Aang called. "This is the Avatar speaking. I'm...here to try to help stuff."

Their friends waited at the outhouse they were staying at for now, watching Aang and Starly head for the exit. Katara, Sokka, Cody, and Totodile watched after them as they continued walking around town. The village chief and the old man from earlier checked up behind them to see what was going on.

"This isn't right," Sokka was muttering. "We can't sit here and cower while Aang and Starly wait for some monster to show up."

The old man murmured, "If anyone can save us, he can."

"He still shouldn't have to face this alone," Sokka insisted.

Totodile nodded. "He's right. When trouble comes, we'll be there."

Outside, the sun had already set, and the sky darkened. Aang was standing at the gate like a lone gunslinger while Starly stayed perched on his shoulder like a Chatot.

"The sun has set," the Avatar called loudly. "Where are you, Hei-Bai? Well, spirit...uh...I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!"

He twirled his staff like a marching baton and planted it in the ground like a flag, his expression resolute. Starly had flown off his shoulder and sent a Gust attack towards the entrance, flapping his wings hard. But to Cody's wonder and confusion, there was nothing coming to them at the entrance to the town.

_Maybe it's a dud spirit?_

Aang sighed and muttered, "Okay. Well, I guess that's settled then." Then the AirBender turned about and began to walk back to the village.

But then, Cody heard the noises. Deep spiritual noises coming from the dark woods. And then, just suddenly...he saw it. A massive shape emerged from the forest, its huge feet making large thudding sounds each time they hit the ground.

_Aang! Turn around!_

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

Aang was still walking placidly up the village street, unaware the beast following right behind him. Cody dared to look out from the doorway to see the monster. Hei Bai was as big as a house, with six legs and black and white orca-like markings all over his body. He was loosely mammal-like and had razor sharp teeth.

The autistic Pikachu hated seeing demon pictures, but as for Hei Bai...this wasn't as scary. Yet the monster was still enough to make him hide behind Katara yet again.

Aang seemed to realize that something was amiss, for he stopped with Starly swaying on his left shoulder. He turned, looked up at the monster, and smiled.

"You must be the Hei Bai spirit," Aang said, bowing his head. "My name is-"

But he was cut off by a blast of air and blue energy from the mouth of the creature. Aang did not move, but his staff was blown to the ground, yet Starly squawked in fear. The spirit reared itself up on its hind-most legs and bellowed, releasing another jet of blue energy from its mouth. It got back on all six legs and then charged into the village, ignoring Aang and leaving him behind.

Aang turned to address the monster as it moved on, "My name is Aang! I'm the Avatar, and I would like to help! Hey, wait up!"

"I'm helping too!" Starly told him. "Remember?"

"I know," Aang replied as they both continued chasing the monster.

The spirit destroyed in rapid succession two houses and a watchtower, using its brute strength and blue energy. It continued to destroy buildings as Aang and Starly followed it around, trying to get its attention. But so far, there was no success. So to help things out, Starly lifted himself off of Aang's shoulder and flew after the monster.

Back at the assembly hall, the other people looked out the window to see what was going on. But Sokka was the only one who looked poised to jump out the window to join the fray. The village chief was behind them, watching this with confusion.

"The Avatar's methods are..." the old chief started to say. They ducked as flying debris hit the window before he finished, "...unusual."

"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying," Sokka muttered. "Maybe we should go help him?"

Totodile nodded. "Now THAT was what I was thinking about too!"

But the old man with them answered, "No. Only the Avatar stands a chance against Hei Bai."

"Aang will figure out the right thing to do, Sokka," Katara told her brother, looking out the window again.

"Hopefully," Cody added in a low whisper. He was sure Katara heard him, but she didn't say a word about it.

Momo appeared to Sokka's right in the window, his eyes blinking widely, as they all looked out to a building. Just beyond, a huge pile of debris got blown above the building. Hei Bai entered from the right as they saw Aang running to the building between him and the monster. Starly was flying around Hei-Bai, trying to caw at it to listen.

Aang was calling, "Please, would you stop destroying things and listen?"

But the monster didn't listen. Instead, it kept destroying more things as Starly barely avoided a large stick thrown at him. Aang jumped on top of the building between them and saw Hei Bai pounding a building into the ground with his fists. Once again, Starly dodged any debris thrown at him.

"I'm just trying to do my job as Spirit Bridge! Excuse me, would you please turn around?" But as the monster continued ignoring Aang, he roared, "I command you to turn around _now_!"

At this, the monster did indeed turn around, but it swatted Aang backward off the top of the building. Aang ended up flying through the air and hitting a nearby roof. He slid off and collapses on the ground. Starly saw this, chirped angrily, and started hitting Hei Bai on the head with multiple Wing Attacks.

The doors of the meetinghouse opened, and Sokka came running out (with Totodile behind him), muttering, "That's it! They need help!"

Katara followed him with Cody on her heels, calling for them to wait, but they were stopped by the old man. He guided them back to the meetinghouse, saying, "It's not safe!"

Starly kept trying to use Aerial Ace on the monster that was standing over Aang, but it didn't work. At one point, however, the monster turned around only to swat at him using its clawed hands, forcing Starly to dodge the blow. Then he could see Sokka lifting his boomerang, having just emerged from the meeting house. Totodile was beside him, jumping from one foot to the other and ready for battle.

"Hei Bai! Over here!" the Water Tribe warrior called, throwing the boomerang. But when the boomerang failed to hit it and bumped against its bottom, Sokka picked it up and ran over to Aang. Totodile quickly fired a Water Gun at Hei Bai before running over to the humans and Starly.

"Sokka! Totodile! Go back!" Aang shouted, noticing them.

But Sokka insisted, "We'll fight him together, Aang. And Starly and Totodile are with us here."

Aang shook his head. "I don't wanna fight him unless I-"

But whatever he had to say did not get out of his mouth in time. At that moment, Hei Bai had rushed forward and grabbed Sokka in one of its hands, also grabbing Totodile for biting the arm holding the Water Tribe teen. All three of them disappeared, cutting Aang off in mid-sentence. Quickly, Aang got his staff into glider mode and took off, Starly following him from above.

As the monster loped back into the forest with Aang and Starly in pursuit, Katara and Cody ran after them, but they stopped at the village gate, unable to catch up. Katara called out to her brother, but no one answered back. Noticing the look of despair on her face, Cody leapt up onto her shoulder and hugged her head.

_Come back soon, you guys! We'll be waiting, _Cody thought as the villagers came around them.

**...**

Zuko lowered a tree branch from eye-level so he could move forth, a Fire Nation soldier behind him. Absol prowled by them, feeling a bit worried even though he wouldn't admit it. It had been a few hours since he and Zuko left Iroh and Torkoal by the hot spring and gave them a warning. But despite that, Zuko had insisted on waiting until his patience ran out.

Absol and Zuko into the clearing with the hot tub...or what remained of it. The water was gone, but the entire tub looked like it was wrecked by an earthquake.

"Uncle!" Zuko called. "Uncle, where are you?"

"Torkoal!" Absol called. "Where are you, you darn reptile?"

"Sir, maybe they thought you left without them?" the soldier asked.

Absol shrugged. "Maybe."

But Zuko muttered, "Something's not right here." He examined the hot tub, now with the stone projectiles embedded in it, and muttered, "That pile of rocks..."

The soldier stopped beside him. "It looks like there's been a landslide, sir."

"Or maybe it was an earthquake?" Absol added.

"Land doesn't slide uphill," Zuko retorted. "Those rocks didn't move naturally. My uncle's been captured by EarthBenders!"

Absol added, "And Torkoal too!"

**...**

Aang was gliding at breakneck speed through the forest in pursuit of Hei-Bai, while Starly flew above, dodging every branch thrown at him. He even broke some apart with a Wing Attack to each branch. The path to Hei Bai was so clear that Aang pulled down with it and was beginning to pass, but he hit a branch and slowed down.

Quickly, Starly flew down to break the branch apart with Wing Attack. The Avatar thanked him before flying off after the spirit monster.

"Aang, over here!" Sokka called.

"Aang? Starly? You there?" Totodile's voice rose with them.

Aang and Starly flew downward to see Hei Bai entering the wasteland from earlier. Sokka and Totodile were still in the grip of the monster, calling out for help.

"Hang on, Sokka!" Aang called as he glided in closer, Starly behind him.

The AirBender stretched his hand out to Sokka, who was able to grab it. Just as Aang began to pull his friends free, however, the two of them and the monster vanished. Aang fell out of the sky in surprise and landed at the base of the stone statue of a bear, knocked out.

Surprised, Starly flew down to him and landed beside him, waiting patiently for him to wake up. To his relief, Aang finally sat up, a crescent moon overhead. He seemed to be bathed in blue moonlight.

"Sokka!" he cried, looking around frantically. "Totodile!"

Starly peered at him closely before looking around. "Where'd they go?"

Aang merely shook his head. "I don't know...I failed."

**...**

It was night. Iroh and Torkoal had been bound and taken away on ostrich horses, while the two Gliscor flew above them. The soldiers steered their ostrich horses towards a thin path by a small mountain, a lantern hanging off the point soldier's mount. Yet Torkoal tried to keep calm and access the situation.

There were four mounts total, one of them bearing a basically naked and chained General Iroh. But Torkoal was not on one of the ostrich horses; instead, he was being carried by the two mean Gliscor in a wooden box. It was very uncomfortable, very much unlike the Fire Nation ship they had been riding on.

"Where are you taking us?" Iroh was asking politely.

"We're taking you to face justice," the captain replied with a sneer.

Iroh nodded. "Right. But where, specifically?"

The captain retorted, "A place you're quite familiar with, actually. You and that Torkoal once laid siege to it for six hundred days, but it would not yield to you."

"Ah!" Iroh sighed, and Torkoal could tell he was remembering this as well. "The great city of Ba Sing Se."

"It was greater than you were, apparently," the captain jeered.

Hearing this, Torkoal was outraged. Angrily, he called, "My master was a good general! He cared very much for-"

"Shut your yap, you!" one of the Gliscor snapped, banging the side of the crate with their claws. "Don't make us drag you out!"

Iroh replied defensively, "I acknowledged my defeat at Ba-Sing-Se! After six hundred days away from home, my men were tired, Torkoal was tired, and I was tired..." He let out a big yawn and put his face in the back of the soldier he was riding with. "...and I'm still tired."

At this, he fell off the ostrich and the soldier stopped to look. Iroh was lying on the road, chained up tight, and Torkoal was afraid he had died, but there was smile on his face. The soldiers put a light on Iroh and picked him up. After they began to leave, Torkoal looked down from his cage to see a sandal Iroh had probably left behind.

But then, he noticed Iroh's smile...and knew.

**...**

Cody and Katara still sat at the village gate, looking into the forest. All the same, Cody hoped that Totodile and Sokka would come back really soon; if not...he didn't want to find out. Just then, the old man came up behind them while the noises of the night filled the air.

"I'm sure they'll be back," the old man told her gently.

"I know," the Water Tribe girl replied quietly.

Cody felt bad for her already, and he hated to see her sad. So he leapt into her lap and curled up against her stomach, making Katara look down and pat his head gently. But he was still upset about his friend being taken away by Hei Bai, so he couldn't give her a reassuring smile.

The old man put a blanket cover over Katara's back and said, "You and your Pikachu should get some rest."

Katara held onto Sokka's boomerang and tried to sound hopeful. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"It will," Cody told her, sitting up and laying his forepaws on her chest. "We just have to keep praying for hope...but it won't be easy."

"Your brother and his Totodile are in good hands," the old man said. "I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without them."

**...**

In the midst of hearing the old man's voice, Aang and Starly reached the end of the forest trail leading up to the gate. In this light, Starly knew now that he and Aang were not just illuminated by the moon. They were in fact colored a light blue as if they were glowing slightly in some surreal fashion.

Starly frowned with pity when he saw the downcast look on Katara's face. Before her, Cody was talking to her, trying to try and cheer her up. He was happy that the Water Tribe girl had a caring Pokémon to watch out for her.

Then Aang began to say, "Katara..." But his voice failed at first before he went on, "Katara...and Cody...I lost him. Him and Totodile."

But she did not react to Aang's voice. Neither did Cody or the old man. As Aang and Starly got closer, the sun began to rise behind her, Cody, and the old man.

"The sun is rising," the old man rasped. "Perhaps he and his Starly will return soon."

"What?" Aang yelped in shock. "No, I'm right here!"

He growled in frustration, putting his hands in front of the old man's face, but it had no effect. Starly blinked as he watched the rising disk of the sun in front of him and his AirBending friend. Aang looked down at his hands glowing blue, gasping in pure shock while Starly looked down at his wings without much surprise.

He gulped, "Starly! You know where we're at?"

Starly nodded. "The spirit world?"

"Yeah! We're in the spirit world!"

**...**

The reek of the sandal made Absol flinch away and paw at his nose. It smelled rather like a dead Skuntank mixed with Koffing fumes. As he looked away, Zuko picked up the sandal and sniffed it, a look of disgust spreading over his face.

"Yup, that's Uncle Iroh," the Fire prince remarked.

"You sure?" Absol asked. "That smells like a Skuntank to me."

Zuko stared sternly down at the Disaster Pokémon from on his war Komodo rhino. "I know my uncle well. For starters, he has a really strong scent."

Absol nodded.

**...**

Starly and Aang stayed by Katara and Cody by standing next to the gate post. But Katara kept looking dejectedly out towards the forest while Cody stayed on her shoulder, giving her a look of pity. Yet Aang knew that the male Pikachu was also worried for Totodile

"We'll figure this out, Katara, I promise," he said, smiling. "You too, Cody. Like they said, I'm the bridge between the worlds, right? All I have to do is...figure out what I have to do. But once I do that, no problem!"

"Hope you got a plan," Starly told him. "If not, what then?"

Aang looked to the right, replying, "I don't know." But when Appa came outside the town to put his nose up to Katara, the Avatar cheered, "Appa! Hey buddy, I'm right here! But...I guess you can't see me either," he added, his voice faltering a bit.

In the meantime, Appa kept grunting at Katara until she looked up at him. She gave him a small smile and said, "It's okay, Appa. I'm sure they're on their way back. I bet they even found you a bunch of moon peaches for a treat."

"What about some apples?" Cody asked her. "Doesn't he like apples?"

"I'm pretty sure he does," Katara replied. "Let's go and see."

Both human and Pikachu walked back to the village, Appa in tow. Aang couldn't bear watching them being depressed while he could do nothing about it. Starly was watching him with pitiful eyes, but he didn't need pity when he was the one who could save the town.

"What am I supposed to do?" Aang muttered, turning to the forest. Then raising his voice, he yelled to the sky, "Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?"

He got no response at first and looked down in despair. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and looked back down the path, his face showing elation. A light shined from down the path.

"Sokka?" Aang asked, hoping his friend and Totodile came back.

But it wasn't them; instead, it was a blue spirit dragon flying toward him and Starly.

Aang gulped in alarm. "That's definitely not Sokka!"

He opened his glider and took flight back into the village, but he hit the ground again a few feet away. And despite being a Flying type Pokémon, Starly was still able to fly in the Spirit World. Quickly, Aang got up and tried to AirBend the glider off the ground, but nothing happened.

"What?" he rasped, looking down at his hands in disbelief. "I can't AirBend in the spirit world!

"Why not?" Starly asked.

Aang looked over at the Starling Pokémon with horror. "I don't know! What'll we do?"

Starly said nothing, but he stepped in front of Aang, ready to defend him until the end.

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

The blue spirit dragon, which was wreathed in radioactive blue fire, towered over Starly and Aang. Starly braced himself as his tail feathers got ruffled, wanting to let the dragon know it would have to go through him first. Suddenly the dragon was upon them, and Aang cowered beneath it, fear framing his young face. Starly stayed defiant.

"You don't know where Sokka and Totodile are, do you?" Aang asked the dragon fearfully.

In response, the dragon bent its head down and touched his head with one of its whiskers. Aang's dark gray eyes began to glow with a blue fire when he was touched. Starly could feel themselves pulled into a flashback, one of an old man riding the dragon the way Aang would ride on Appa; in life, the same dragon had been red and brown. The flashback ended as the blue dragon broke its touch.

Aang stared up at it with amazement. "You're Avatar Roku's animal guide! Like Appa is to me." As the dragon nodded, he went on, "I need to save my friends, and I don't know how. Is there some way for me to talk to Roku?"

The dragon just bent its neck, and Aang jumped on. Starly would want a ride, but he was still full of energy and ready to fly off.

"I'll be back, Katara," Aang murmured to the Water Tribe girl, who was stroking Appa sadly with Cody on her shoulder. To the dragon, he commanded, "Take us to Roku!"

So they took off, Starly taking off beside the dragon and flapping his wings hard.

**...**

The four war ostriches were plodding on a winding mountain path as the two Gliscor flew from above. Suddenly, something blue flew by Torkoal's cage, plus startling the Gliscor. As Torkoal peeped out the hole in his cage, he saw a huge blue dragon fly by with a human on its head and a Starly flying beside it.

_What's going on? I thought Iroh was the one to defeat the last dragon?_

Torkoal looked down in time to see Iroh being startled to see the blue dragon zoom by overhead. They passed right over the heads of the procession, but only Iroh, Torkoal, and the Gliscor had seen them.

"What's the problem?" the captain asked.

"Nothing," Iroh replied. Then... "Actually, there _is_ a bit of a problem. My old joints are feeling sore and achy, and these shackles are too loose.

The captain raised his eyebrows. "Too loose?"

Iroh nodded. "That's right. The cuffs are loose and they jangle around and bump my wrists. It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much."

"Very well," the captain sighed after thinking. "Corporal, tighten the prisoner's hand cuffs."

Torkoal now knew what Iroh was going to do: getting himself free. So he turned to the Gliscor and asked, "Excuse me, but I think this cage is becoming rusty. May you be so kind as to make it all shiny again? The rust is cutting at my feet, and it hurts."

"Should we?" one Gliscor asked the other.

The other shrugged. "Eh...why not? It DOES feel rusty anyways. But listen, you!" he added to Torkoal. "If you try and escape, we'll hunt you down. Got it?"

Torkoal nodded.

So all of the Earth Kingdom soldiers got off their ostrich horses and parked them near some rocks. Then the corporal jumped off and touched his handcuffs, but Iroh had a sly smile he shared with Torkoal. At the same time, the Gliscor set down Torkoal's cage and began rubbing at the rust with their claws.

But quickly, Iroh breathed on his handcuffs, and they became red hot. As Torkoal watched on, the former general grabbed the corporal's hands and put them on the hot iron. The corporal let out a scream of pain, and Iroh hopped off the ostrich horse. At the same time, as a Gliscor took a peek into Torkoal's cage, Torkoal let out a Flamethrower at its face, making the Fang Scorp Pokémon yell in shock. When Gliscor was distracted, Torkoal spun around in his shell and sped away with good speed.

Iroh launched himself into the air and fired a blast of flame from his feet at the other soldiers on their ostriches. He rolled off the path and down the hill during the resultant uproar, Torkoal after him. But Torkoal could see the Gliscor coming after him through the spinning.

**...**

Starly could have been tired, but since he was in the spirit world, he didn't feel tired at all. But he put his eyes back on the path as he, Aang, and the dragon swiftly approached a volcanic island. It had a beautiful Fire Temple on it, which they entered and flew straight towards the ceiling.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Aang shouted.

"Relax!" Starly retorted. "We're in the spirit world, remember?"

Aang stared back at him in shock. "Really? What makes you...ahhhh!"

For they rapidly approached the ceiling, which they passed through safely. The dragon settled on the floor of a secret chamber at the top of the temple. It was empty except for the statue of an old man in the back of the room. Aang dismounted and walked toward the statue while Starly landed on his shoulder.

"I don't understand," Aang just muttered. "This is just a statue of Roku."

"Maybe the dragon could tell you something," Starly said, looking back at the dragon.

So Aang also looked back to the dragon, which touched him on the temple with its whisker once again. Aang's dark gray eyes lit up blue, and Starly could tell that a vision was happening once again. So he closed his eyes, and this time, the vision was of a huge blazing meteorite hurtling through the sky.

_Whoa! What kind of meteor was that? _Starly thought. He had heard of legends of how Cody and Totodile asked for Rayquaza's help to destroy a meteor that was going to destroy the Pokémon Square. As he opened his eyes, the dragon broke contact with Aang.

The Avatar looked up at the dragon and asked, "Is that what Roku wants to talk to me about? A comet? When can I talk to him?"

The dragon lowered its head in response as the sun shined through a tiny window high up in the ceiling. The shaft of light, previously blocked by the dragon, now hit the wall near Roku's right shoulder. Then the dragon touched Aang's forehead again, and Starly could see a vision of time passing at the Fire Temple.

Clouds started fly by at incredible speed above, and the sun rounded its daily course in seconds. Three days passed in this fashion before the sunlight entered. Days passed in rapid succession there as well. With each day, the spot where the shaft of sunlight hitting the back wall got closer to hitting the statue's face as each day passed. The vision ended as soon as Starly opened his eyes.

"It's a calendar, and the light will reach Roku on the solstice!" Aang said with delight. Turning to the dragon, he asked, "So that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?"

The dragon nodded.

Aang sighed "But I can't wait that long. We need to save Sokka and Totodile now."

So they got back on the dragon and left the volcanic island at a terrific speed.

**...**

Torkoal joined Iroh in rolling down the hillside, still chained, even though Torkoal wasn't. The EarthBender soldiers watched him from over the lip, EarthBended a torrent of dirt and rock after them, and then slid down the hillside in pursuit. The Gliscor raced after Torkoal and caught up to him, catching him and pushing him down into the ground.

When the EarthBenders caught up to them, Iroh was almost buried. Torkoal's head was forced down to the ground by the claws of the Gliscor.

"He and his Torkoal are too dangerous, Captain," the corporal told his boss. "We can't just carry them to the capital. We have to do something now."

"I agree. They must be dealt with immediately and severely," the captain replied with a snarl.

Iroh spat out a stone and looked with disdain upon his captors while Torkoal tried to hide his head inside his shell.

**...**

"It's no use, Appa. I don't see them anywhere. Our best hope is to go back to the village and wait."

A huge reptilian foot slammed into the ground where a clear trail of ostrich horses laid. Both Zuko (on his war rhino) and Absol looked over their shoulders to see a familiar creature flying away in the distance.

"The Avatar!" Zuko snarled, yanking the reigns to turn the beast back.

"But what about your uncle?" Absol asked, not moving towards the bison. "And Torkoal?"

This made the banished prince look down the trail that led to his captured uncle. He looked back again in the direction he saw the bison, indecision marking his face. Absol looked back down the trail, wondering where Iroh and Torkoal could have gone to.

**...**

Aang, Starly, and the dragon were now flying through the wasteland at the edge of the forest. Up ahead, Starly could see the bear statue rapidly growing larger; not only that, but Aang's earth body was sitting crossed-legged on top. And Starly could see his own body beside him, knowing that he had been knocked out the entire time. Aang was bracing himself for the arriving crash, but instead, he rejoined his own body as the dragon disappeared into the statue. Folding his wings, Starly dove down towards his body and rejoined his body.

He and Aang finally woke up, now back in the material world. They jumped down off the statue and turned to stare in wonder at it. After a few more seconds of watching it, Aang opened up his glider and flew back toward the village. Starly shook his feathers and headed off after him; so far, they had to wait until the solstice and talk with Roku.

They finally made it back to the village, where Katara was standing on the front porch of the meetinghouse, looking downcast. Cody was on her shoulder, speaking words of comfort to her. Out of the sunset, Aang flew down towards the pouch and landed near her, Starly following suit. Katara rushed over to hug him as Momo flew to perch on his master's shoulder.

"You're back!" Katara exclaimed with relief as she let go. "Where's Sokka?"

"And Totodile?" Cody added.

Aang just looked down, looking downcast. "I'm not sure."

Starly nodded. "We were chasing that monster, and we crashed into a statue."

"What statue?" Cody asked. "We didn't see any statue at the start of this episode."

**(Author's Note: Breaking the fourth wall. It'll appear occasionally.)**

The sun now began to set over the trees, and the humans and their Pokémon looked over their shoulders to the forest.

**...**

Iroh and Torkoal were taken away to an earthen pit to face their punishments. Iroh was stretched over a large rock in the center of the pit, his hands spread before him. Torkoal, in the meanwhile, had his neck stretched across a small rock with a Gliscor's claw pinning it down, poised to strike.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed!" the captain cried as he raises a huge boulder from the ground and moved it to hover over Iroh's hands. Grunting, he dropped it down. Torkoal tried to get up, but the Gliscor slashed at his head with an X-Scissor attack.

"Don't move!" one snarled. "Or we'll snap your head off!"

A moment before it crushed Iroh's hands and arms, a flash of black-&-red arrived to kick the big rock out of the way. Beside it, a flash of white tackled one of the Gliscor in the belly and made it keel before releasing a Flamethrower at the other Gliscor. And in an instant, Zuko broke the chains holding his uncle's hands bound with a kick.

Iroh rose with a smile, saying, "Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

"You taught me well," Zuko replied with a smile.

Torkoal smiled at this little reunion before turning to Absol. There were no words to be said between them, for Absol turned to give the old Pokémon a smile before glaring back at the five Gliscor.

"Surrender yourselves; it's five against two!" the captain ordered, he and his soldiers fencing them in as Iroh and Zuko standing back-to-back. "You're clearly outnumbered."

"Oh, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched!" Iroh retorted, wielding the chains like a whip.

Despite the glares the five Gliscor were sending them, Absol and Torkoal stood their ground. They would have to fight to the death against these Pokémon. But this time, they were all back as a group and ready for a fight.

All five EarthBenders launched stones at the pair, but Iroh swung his chains and broke them into pieces while Zuko blasted the two nearest him with fire. He was about to be hit by two stones thrown at him when they were suddenly wrapped in Iroh's chains. He swung them around his body and released them back at their captors, who were hit in the stomach and knocked out. The Captain launched several rocks at Zuko, who dodged them and returned fire. The fire blast was blocked when the Captain lowered his head, and the fire broke harmlessly over his onion-shaped helmet. The Captain raised two huge sheets of rock, but chains wrapped around the Captain's feet, and he was pulled to the ground by Iroh. And to add insult to injury, the rocks landed on top of him.

In the meantime, Torkoal and Absol were outnumbered by five Gliscor, but they were prepared to fight. Absol leapt at one Gliscor, slicing at its face with Night Slash, while Gliscor countered with X-Scissor; however, since Absol's move was stronger, Gliscor was thrown back in surprise. Torkoal tackled the biggest Gliscor in the stomach, but he was thrown back by the same one; yet he quickly countered it by jumping off the wall and tackling the Gliscor again. And the three Gliscor left were wiped out by a Flamethrower combo.

The Earth Kingdom soldiers were now groaning and buried in dirt, Iroh and Zuko standing over them. And the five Gliscor were now tied up, dizzy and stuttering as Torkoal and Absol finished tying them up. The two humans looked around at each other and smiled, Zuko putting his hand on his uncle's shoulder.

But when this happened, Zuko then asked with mild irritation, "Now would you _please_ put on some clothes!"

Torkoal and Absol smiled at that. It was good to have their group back together.

**...**

Aang and Starly were standing at the village gate once again; night had fallen over the land once again. Cody, Katara, Momo, and the chief were looking out of the assembly hall window to Aang, who stood at the gate again, the wind blowing dead leaves past him. Some time passed, and Aang's began to walk back into the village.

_What about Sokka and Totodile? _Cody asked himself. _Will they come back soon?_

As Aang and Starly both approached a building with a wind chime sounding in the wind, the monster slowly appeared, breaking through the roof of the building with the wind chime. It let out a roar of triumph, releasing blue energy from its mouth. Aang yelped in shock and began to make an energy shell similar to the one he created at the Southern Air Temple.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara shouted out the window to him. "Run!"

As the monster got near, Starly flew out of the way, looking over his shoulder. "Come on! If you don't wanna get squashed, get outta the way!"

"Got it!" Aang called, doing the same as Starly.

The creature roared and ran toward another building, but Aang ran underneath its legs and leapt up onto its forehead. His hand glowed light blue, and Starly could see a panda bear superimposed over the monster. Quickly, seeing the same thing, Aang jumped back to the porch of a nearby building.

"You're the spirit of this forest. Now I understand," he started to say as he landed before the beast. Hei Bai stood still as he went on, "You're upset and angry because your home was burned down. When I saw the forest had burned, I was sad and upset. But my friends gave me hope that the forest would grow back."

When he was finished, he showed Hei-Bai an acorn he pulled out of his pocket. Starly wondered where he got it, but the Avatar had seen the confusion on his face.

"Katara got me the acorn when we first came here," he explained. "She said it's a sign that the forest will grow back."

Starly nodded and looked back up at Hei Bai.

The spirit gave them a strange yet warm smile as Aang placed the acorn on the porch. The huge black-&-white monster picked up the acorn and slowly started to shrink. Fuzzy ears appeared on its head, fur was sprouting everywhere, the cruel-looking hands turned into paws, and a short fluffy tail appeared on its rear. Hei Bai had transformed into his true form: a panda.

Hei Bai turned around and walked away from the village, Aang watching him go with a smile as he stood on the porch. Starly looked up at the Avatar, unable to find the words to tell him how proud Gyatso would be of him. But he didn't want to bring up Aang's dead AirBending mentor in fear of his friend being sad. So he just looked up at him and gave him a proud nod.

Cody, Katara, and the other villagers were coming up behind them to see what was going on. As Hei Bai left the gate, a thicket of bamboo grew to man height in seconds behind him. A moment later, Sokka, Totodile, and a few villagers appeared from the thicket, looking confused.

"Sokka!" Katara called with relief as she ran over to hug him.

"Totodile! Glad to see you back!" Cody added, rushing over to hug his best friend. Around these four, other villagers were hugging their loved ones.

"W-What happened?" Sokka groaned as he shook his head.

Katara replied, "You and Totodile were trapped in the Spirit world for twenty four hours. How are you feeling?"

With a pained look on his face, her brother replied, "Like I seriously need to use the bathroom!"

And at that, he rushed off towards the village. Cody rolled his eyes before turning back to his friend.

"What about you, Totodile?" he asked.

Totodile shrugged. "Not me. I just had a good talk with some of the spirits there. Had a round of Coca Cola with them and talked about how we went on our adventures. I'm heading back there next week for a round of Liar's Dice. Remind me to fall asleep then, okay?"

Cody nodded, not completely understanding this but accepting this. "Sure."

**...**

Rescue Team Avatar was ready to get ready to leave while it was still night; they and all the other villagers had gathered in the town square. Cody guessed that Sokka wanted to leave while it was still night to keep Fire Nation soldiers from seeing them. And he was a bit surprised to see Starly still sitting beside Aang.

The chief, flanked by two villagers on each side, was saying to Aang, "Thank you, Avatar. If there only was a way to repay you for what you've done."

"You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka suggested.

Katara angrily elbowed her brother and hissed, "Sokka!"

Sokka gave his sister a defensive stare. "What? We need stuff."

"He's right, you know," Totodile added.

Katara, Sokka, and Cody gave the little blue crocodile Pokémon some surprised looks. Cody had no idea Totodile and Sokka were now on agreeing terms.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey," the chief agreed with Sokka, bowing to all six of them.

Then, as quickly as he finished this, he left, the other townspeople following him. Cody leapt onto Katara's shoulder just in time as she turned to face Aang.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang," the Water Tribe girl told him with a smile. "You figured out what to do all on your own."

"So am I," Cody purred, swaying on his hind paws on Katara's shoulder.

"Actually, I did have a little help," Aang admitted. "Starly helped too, but someone else helped us. And there's something else," he added, looking downcast.

Cody looked over at the AirBender with concern. What was keeping him low?

"What is it?" Sokka asked as he turned to Aang. It appeared he too had noticed the downcast look on his face.

Aang replied, "I need to talk to Roku, and I think I've found a way to contact his spirit."

Katara smiled at him. "That's great!"

"Very great," Cody agreed as Katara scratched him gently behind the ears.

Sokka added, "Creepy, but great."

"Well, I think it's awesome great!" Totodile said.

Starly merely nodded.

"There's a temple on a crescent shaped island," Aang explained when they were done. "And if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him."

"But the solstice is tomorrow," Katara reminded him.

Aang just looked up at the siblings in awkwardness. "Yeah...and there's one more problem. The island is in the Fire Nation."

By the looks of shock on their faces, Cody could tell that they were shocked. They would have to go into Fire Nation territory to get to Roku's temple. And he didn't want to tell them his secret yet; soon would be the time for them to tell them.

_God, give us strength for this!_

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat12: I'm sorry if I haven't been uploading recently, folks. I've just been busy with a lot of stuff, but I'll try and update often. If not, then I'll have to try harder.**

**But anyways, it's time for the review thing and the preview for The Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku. Anyone who reviews this chapter will get a virtual figurine of Majecelos from World of Warcraft; that's my friend's character from WOW since today's his birthday. Flames will not be allowed on here, but advice and constructive criticism are.**

**Preview: Rescue Team Avatar now go on their way to Roku's island to speak with Avatar Roku. But will they make it there before Zuko and a new enemy beat them there? And what secrets will they find there?**

**See ya next time!**


	13. Avatar Roku

**AvatarCat12: Hey everyone! I'm really sorry I haven't uploaded in a long while. I'm not gonna neglect this story any longer, and I hope to make some more chapters. Speaking of that, you'll see a bit of breaking the fourth wall here.**

**I don't think I told you this already, but I'm going up to Pennsylvania for a few months. But since there's SOME internet up there, I'll still be making stories. What I might plan on doing up there will be hanging out with my ex-girlfriend, celebrating Halloween and even Thanksgiving, and doing several other stuff. Like watching wrestling with my grandma!**

**But enough of that. Let's go on with the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last AirBender and Pokémon don't belong to me. Instead, they belong to Bryke and Satoshi Tajiri. And did you know that the latter is autistic?**

**Summary: ****Rescue Team Avatar now go on their way to Roku's island to speak with Avatar Roku. But will they make it there before Zuko and a new enemy beat them there? And what secrets will they find there?**

**Uploading Date: September 22, 2012**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**Avatar Roku**_

The bright full moon was slowly rising over a mountain range. Small grunting noises made Cody turn to see Aang pulling fruitlessly on Appa's reins. Ever since Aang said that Roku's temple was in the Fire Nation, Appa had been acting like someone struck him with a whip. Both Katara and Sokka weren't keen on going with them, and Cody was tempted to join them.

_But we gotta go there, _he thought. But then he added to himself, _But...we gotta go to the North Pole and let Aang and Katara learn WaterBending._

"Let's go Appa!" Aang was groaning, pulling on the reins. "Come on, boy!"

"GRRRRRRR!" Appa growled, stepping back.

Aang took the time to say, "Look, I'm sorry, but Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. And I don't think Cody and Totodile are coming with us. If they all got hurt, I'd never forgive myself." Angrily, he finished, "So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"

Then the Avatar continued to pull on Appa's reins, but Appa remained immovable. Aang pulled so hard on the reins that he fell to the ground. But noticing the very crestfallen look on his face, Cody felt sorry for him. He knew this meant a lot to him, asking Roku about his mission.

"I think his big butt is trying to tell you something," Sokka spoke up as he and his sister looked on in worry at Aang.

Katara added pleadingly, "Please don't go, Aang. The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation...neither can I."

Totodile, who was calmly whistling, nodded. "They're right. The world needs you, Aang."

But by the look on Aang's face, Cody could tell that something was going on inside his head. Then he got up from the ground and walked over towards the Water Tribe siblings and the two Pokémon.

"But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means," Aang reasoned. "I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the Solstice. That's today."

Starly, who was sitting on his shoulder, snapped, "And if you guys don't wanna come along, then fine! We'll just go by ourselves!"

At that, Aang jumped up onto Appa's back while Starly settled down beside him. But when they got onto Appa, Aang was looking back hesitatingly at Sokka and Katara with Cody and Totodile just behind them. And at that moment, Sokka and Katara jumped in front of Appa, blocking the way.

"We're not letting you go into the Fire Nation, Aang," Katara told the Avatar firmly.

"At least not without your friends," Sokka added, a smile on his face. "We got your back."

At this, Cody and Totodile gave the siblings strange looks despite being excited for this. "You're kidding, right?" Totodile asked.

Katara shook her head. "Nope."

At this, Cody saw Momo jumping up onto Aang's arm, chittering happily. Starly had gotten out from his bad mood and was now cheering by squawking in a normal Starly way. And as they stood around, Appa bent his head low and licked Sokka from toe to head.

"EWWWWW!" the Water Tribe teen exclaimed, making everyone laugh.

When everyone got on board, the chief of the village handed Aang a parcel of supplies. Then he said, "It's a long journey to the Crescent Island. You'll have to fly fast to have any chance of making it before sundown. Good luck."

"Thank you," the Avatar replied politely. "Thank you for your..."

"Go!" the chief exclaimed, pointing urgently away.

So Appa took off until the village was no more than a speck. Cody looked over back there as he laid still in Katara's lap like a mouse in a trap (literally for the first part). He knew what they were doing was dangerous, yet he also knew he had done dangerous missions. Before he could close his eyes, he could see worry in Katara's blue eyes before falling asleep.

And some snoring told him that Totodile had fallen asleep next to them.

**...**

The sun was rising up in the sky the next morning. Appa was flying through the clouds, Cody had just started to wake up...and I can't wait to finish this chapter and get on with the others. As Cody woke up, he felt a nudge by his side.

"Morning, Cody!" Totodile said, nudging him awake.

"M-Morning, Totodile," Cody yawned, stretching out. "What day is it?"

Starly flew up to them and said, "It's the day of the solstice! What else?"

Cody smiled a bit; he recalled that this was the day. He looked over at Katara, who was busy talking to Sokka about something. When he padded over to her, she turned to him with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," the Water Tribe girl greeted him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Cody replied, yawning a bit. "I slept like a cat! What about Aang?"

He looked over at the Avatar, who was looking over his shoulder at the rising sun. He turned forward with a determined look on his face. To Appa, he said urgently, "Come on, boy! We've got a long way to go! Faster!"

_So I guess he didn't sleep much._

Appa pumped his large tail and growled in assent. Cody was now too tensed up to play a game or read a book; right now, all he could worry about was getting to the Fire Nation. Totodile wasn't that worried however, for he was just calmly looking down into an animal book. And Starly was looking from the left to the right as if an enemy was going to fly beside them.

**...**

"Sailing into Fire Nation waters...of all the foolish things you have done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!"

Zuko was in the forefront looking through a high powered spy glass, a guard behind him to the left and Iroh to the right. Absol had heard Iroh mutter constantly about sailing back into Fire Nation waters as if the end of the world was coming. But they had to do it.

Plus, it had been quite easy getting the information on where the Avatar was. All they had to do was intimidate an old guy in the last village they went to. But anyways, Absol looked over at Zuko, who was looking down to the water.

"I have no choice, Uncle," the banished prince sighed.

Iroh snapped with a look of anguish and worry, "Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you? What if you're caught?"

"Yes! Think of what might happen!" Torkoal added from behind Iroh.

Zuko turned around from the spy glass he was looking through. "I'm chasing the Avatar. My father will understand why I'm returning home."

"You give him too much credit!" Iroh sighed. "My brother is not the understanding type!"

His nephew merely sighed and turned back to the spy glass. Absol sat beside him and looked up to the sky, trying to look for signs of the Avatar before alerting Zuko. He searched the skies for a few seconds before recognizing the flying form of a flying bison in the distance.

"There they are!" Zuko hissed. "Helmsman, full steam ahead! Absol, prepare the cannons!"

"Yes, Zuko," Absol replied before adding under his breath, "Though I have paws, not hands."

He was excited as Zuko was to catch the Avatar and bring him over to Ozai, but he wasn't that hasty in doing it. Torkoal and Iroh looked like they didn't mind this chase, though Absol slightly wished they could relax once in a while. But Zuko was going to have none of it; it was either finding the Avatar...or never go back home.

_I've never had a home, _Absol recalled. _But I'll do what I can to help Zuko...for now._

...

**(AvatarCat12: Here, POVs will switch back and forth.)**

"Aang, we got trouble."

"Yeah, and it's gaining fast!"

Cody, Aang, and Totodile looked behind them to see what was up. A familiar black ship down below was slowly making its way towards them, not leaving their sighed. A catapult was raised from below onto the deck of the ship, loaded with a steaming and smoldering projectile. Zuko, Iroh, and their Pokémon were standing behind the catapult, Iroh, fanning himself and wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Really, Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" the old man was groaning.

Zuko ignored him as he shot a fire ball at the projectile and it ignited. Absol helped him out by using Flamethrower on the same item. Torkoal gave the machine a wary glance before following Absol into using Flamethrower on the projectile. When the two Pokémon were done, Zuko raised his arm in the air.

"On my mark...fire!"

A Fire Nation soldier cut the catapult's rope, and the fiery projectile was hurtled into the air. Cody and Totodile joined Katara and Sokka into watching out for the ship. As it approached, the young Pikachu thought he smelled something bad coming off from the projectile. Whatever it was, it was enough to make an Aerodactyl faint and fall from the air.

"Fireball!" Katara shouted, looking over her shoulder at Aang.

"I'm on it!" Aang called back, pulling hard on Appa's reins.

Appa swerved away just in time. The fireball sailed over his head, but the stench coming from it was unbearable.

Katara covered her nose with her hand and called, "We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another hot stinker at us!"

"Yeah!" Cody added, holding his nose too. "It smells like old sneakers soaked in stinkbug juice mixed with some rotten eggs and dead fish with just a touch of skunk fumes!"

Totodile looked around at him. "Where'd you get that from?"

Cody replied, "Chatot was talking about that before Treecko and Chimchar graduated. He was talking about Koffing from Team Skull."

"Can't you make Appa go any faster?" Sokka was asking, also holding his nose.

"Yeah, but there's just one little problem," Aang replied, also holding his own nose.

Looking down, Cody saw Zuko and Absol look worried; when he looked up, he saw what had worried them so. A double line of Fire Nation war ships was stretching out on the horizon. On the deck of one of the war ships, there were trebuchets lined up in a row. He looked down again as he heard Iroh talk to his nephew.

"Technically, you are _still_ in Earth Kingdom waters," the elder was saying, pulling on his beard thoughtfully. "Turn back now and they cannot arrest you."

Zuko glared at his Uncle before looking at the line of war ships. Absol did the same thing to Torkoal when he agreed with Iroh. Totodile pulled Cody back into Appa's saddle just in time before he could fall off and into the ocean.

"If we fly north, we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade," Aang spoke up. "It's the only way."

"There's no time," Katara protested, looking concerned.

Aang gave a small irritated sigh. "This is exactly why I didn't want you four to come. It's too dangerous!"

Katara nodded firmly. "And that's exactly why we're here."

Starly nodded. "Yeah! We're not gonna flee all because of some silly Fire Nation soldiers!"

"Let's run this blockade," Sokka added, a smile on his face.

Cody looked back to see if Aang would not agree with the others and turn around. But he nodded along with them and called, "Appa! Yip yip!"

Appa growled affirmatively and soared swiftly towards the blockade. As Cody looked down, he could see Zuko, Iroh, and their Pokémon look up at the flying bison. So Appa flew faster, but Cody had to duck as Absol fired a Flamethrower up in their direction. When he poked his head back up, he hard Zuko talking after telling Absol to calm down.

"He's not turning around," the FireBender was hissing.

Iroh turned to his nephew. "Please Prince Zuko...if the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar."

Zuko bowed his head and murmured, "I'm sorry, Uncle. Run the blockade!" he yelled to the helmsman, pointing forward.

Cody gulped and turned the other way, hoping to see any way to get through. But there wasn't. Now he was thankful he was granted the gift of sharp hearing, for he heard some muttering as they got nearer. He could see a middle-aged male soldier standing ready at the trebuchet, a large Magmortar standing beside him. By the look on his face, he could tell that he wasn't going to stop for anything.

"Ignite!" the soldier shouted as another ignited one trebuchet, the others following suit. Then he roared, "Launch!"

Fireballs began flying into the air on either side, for all the war ships in the blockade were now launching fire balls at the same time. The Magmortar pointed its cannon-like hand into the air and started firing one Focus Blast after the other into the air. Zuko and Iroh were still on the deck of their ship as they watched the approaching barrage of fire balls. Cody looked up in time to see the fire balls come racing towards them. Appa swerved, and dipped, and dove down to avoid the fire balls.

Cody turned to look if Aang was all right. The Avatar's teeth were clenched, and his hands were tight around Appa's reins as he tried to help the bison avoid the fire balls. Just then, one fireball grazed across Appa's back, but the riders beat out the fire while Totodile doused the fires down with Water Gun.

"Appa! Are you okay?" Aang asked as Appa groaned in pain.

Thankfully, the bison growled while not slowing down one bit.

Meanwhile, down below, Absol saw a soldier trying to keep his balance as the ship was rocked by waves created by the fireballs hitting the water close to the ship. One fireball landed awfully close to the ship and generated a wave that broke across the deck. Another fireball hit the back part of the ship while Zuko and Absol braced themselves against the catapult. Iroh and Torkoal did the same before Torkoal used Stone Edge to destroy a fireball.

"Prince Zuko, the engines are damaged!" They turned to see the engine master pointing to the billowing fire and smoke behind him. "We need to stop and make repairs!"

"Do not stop this ship," Zuko snarled, turning back towards the front of the ship.

And at that, multiple fireballs were shot into the air.

Meanwhile, in the air, Appa was bursting through the clouds, a cumulus trail in his wake. Aang was trying to help Appa avoid the fireball bombardment, but twelve fireballs shot through the clouds, smoke trailing behind them. Appa swerved to miss one on his left as another fireball burst out in front of them. Aang, Katara and Sokka all screamed as Appa swerved while Cody and Totodile hung on tight to the saddle. The smoke trails from multiple fireballs surrounded Appa, but he just flew on bravely and directly through the smoke.

_Thank God! _Cody prayed.

But more fireballs continued to shoot through the sky. Two of them collided and exploded just in front of Appa, making him growl and rear up to avoid the combustion. He bucked, and Sokka was thrown from his back. Katara screamed and reached out for her brother, but he began to fall and disappeared into the clouds below.

Cody watched as Aang screamed his friend's name and pulled hard on Appa's reins. The flying bison quickly dove to catch Sokka just before he hit the ocean, a confused Magikarp looking up at them. As Sokka continued to fall, Katara reached out her hand to catch him while Totodile stood on her arm, ready to do the same. Sokka finally held on, and Appa hit the water, each of his six legs using the ocean's surface like a trampoline. He began his ascent, and in Sokka's grasp was the same Magikarp.

"Yo, man! Get yo freakin' hands offa me!" the Fish Pokémon snapped, slapping him across the face with its tail. As Sokka fell back, Magikarp bounced off his face to be caught by a chittering Momo. It snapped at him before wriggling free and jumping back into the ocean.

"...that was weird," Totodile remarked.

Just then, another barrage of fiery missiles shot forward. Appa, still close to the surface of the water, swerved back and forth as fireballs landed in the ocean. Aang looked fully concentrated on avoiding the fireballs while Starly swerved on top of his head, chirping. When the swerving stopped, Appa flew headfirst into the Fire Navy blockade, the tension building as Appa flew closer to the blockade line.

The soldier with the Magmortar was barking, "Ready...launch!"

A single fireball flew hard at Appa, but Aang leapt from the spot, determination on his face. He assumed the AirBending pose, grunting and kicking a burst of air directly into the center of the approaching fireball. The fireball exploded from the inside out as a result of Aang's blast, and the fragments formed a halo of smoke and debris around Appa.

"Wow..." Cody gasped as Appa flew through the center of the halo. "That...was powerful."

"Yeah..." Sokka groaned, recovering from the Magikarp slapping his face.

Aang suddenly lost his balance amidst the flying rubble and was thrown back onto Appa's head. Sokka and Katara grabbed his arms to steady him as Appa flew on through the Fire Nation blockade. Cody watched as they quickly flew off from it before leaping up into the air, feeling lightened now. They had done it.

"We made it!" Aang cheered, raising his left fist in the air.

Both Sokka and Katara had looks of shock and amazement on their faces as Sokka rasped, "We got into the Fire Nation...great..."

"Who cares?" Starly chirped. "At least we made it alive. Doesn't that count for something?"

But the siblings did not reply to that; Cody guessed they were still in shock after arriving at the Fire Nation. Without another word, Appa took off into the air once again.

**...**

Absol felt his pelt bristle; Zuko's ship was now approaching the Fire Navy's blockade. As the ship got closer, the ships of the blockade moved towards each other in order to bar his way. Not only that, but some of the Pokémon on there like Magmar were ready to strike.

"We're on a collision course!" Iroh called while Torkoal retreated into his shell.

"We can make it!" Zuko snapped back, keeping his eyes on the water path.

Absol looked ahead. A large group of Fire Nation soldiers was standing at parade rest behind Commander Zhao and his Magmortar. He wasn't sure if what Zuko said was true; it looked like they would have to fight their way through.

"The boarding party is ready to apprehend Prince Zuko, Sir," the leader of one of the platoons said.

But to their surprise, Zhao muttered instead, "Wait. Cut the engines. Let them pass."

"Huh?" Magmortar asked. "I thought we were gonna catch them little punks!"

"My decision still stands," Zhao replied, not flinching under his gaze.

The man looked startled, but Zhao did not respond to his questioning. So Zuko's ship slid easily through the blockade while Zhao and Zuko glared at each other, determined looks on their faces. When the ship passed by, Iroh looked at the blockade fading into the distance, looking pensive and stroking his beard.

Absol looked back, not sure what to make of Zhao's move. Didn't the commander of the Fire Navy want to capture them and get them out of the way? If so, then why did they just let them pass without much of a fight? But from the tense look on Torkoal's face, Absol knew there must be a reason behind all this.

**...**

Appa let out a small grunt as he flew on in Fire Nation skies, but he continued to fly. However, his tail began to droop, and his legs slackened as he began to get more and more tired. The others were relaxing on Appa's back; Totodile and Sokka were making wooden sculptures while Cody and Katara were reading together. Up ahead, Aang looked like he was going to sleep while Momo was already asleep at his head. Even Starly had decided to take a little nap.

Suddenly, Aang's face lit up in recognition, making Cody and Totodile look up. The Pokémon wondered what was going on.

"There it is!" the Avatar cheered. "The island Roku's dragon took me and Starly to!"

A crescent-shaped island was appearing through the clouds. Right in the middle of the crescent was a large active volcano, much like the volcano in the Magma Caverns. Fire and steam belched forth from its cone, much like black clouds erupting from it. With a command to land, Appa flew on towards the island.

The Fire Temple Aang had been searching for was sitting on a cliff directly below the volcano. Appa landed near the temple, looking tired from all the flying. Aang patted Appa's face lovingly, saying, "You did it, buddy. Nice flying."

Appa merely groaned and rolled onto his side in pure exhaustion while Sokka and Totodile began to stretch. Katara walked towards Appa and began to rub his belly while Cody climbed onto his head, rubbing his forehead gently.

"Oh! You must be tired!" Katara cooed gently as she gently continued rubbing Appa's belly.

"Yeah. Poor guy," Cody added. "I think we should let him rest often between flights."

Aang, having heard that, replied, "Yeah...I guess we should."

"No, I'm good," Sokka suddenly spoke up, grunting and stretching. Then he started jogging in place, going on, "Refreshed and ready to fight some FireBenders."

Katara turned to her brother with a wry look on her face. "I was talking to Appa," she retorted.

Sokka stopped in mid-jog and pointed to Momo hanging upside down from a nearby tree. "Well, _I_ was talking to Momo."

The winged lemur chittered and looked quizzically at Sokka. Totodile stopped stretching and gave Cody a smile, amused by what was happening. When the siblings stopped their arguing, Totodile chuckled, "I guess they do this often."

"I guess so," Cody replied with a shrug.

Once they were done being prepared, they began walking up the steep path leading to the Fire Temple. Aang, Katara and Sokka walked slowly up the path, Cody and Totodile behind them. Starly had decided to stay behind with Appa to keep a lookout for any intruders. The five of them continually looked to their left and right in anticipation of an attack. Sokka, Aang, Katara and Momo were crouched behind a low wall in front of the temple, Cody and Totodile behind them.

"I don't see any guards," Sokka muttered.

Katara nodded. "The Fire Nation must have abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died."

"In other words, it's quiet," Cody added. Then he looked around again and went on, "_Too_ quiet."

Totodile panted. "And it's hot. _Too _hot!"

Aang was looking over at the temple before turning back to the others. "It's almost sundown. We'd better hurry."

He leapt over the wall while the others followed him. Cody looked over his shoulder to see if there really were any other soldiers around the area. There were none, but he had a feeling that they were being watched by someone...or something. Noticing that they others were running ahead of him, Cody picked up the pace and caught up with them.

Soon enough, when they got inside, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo, Cody, and Totodile began going through the temple. They had even started tip-toeing through the center of the temple, though Cody thought this was ridiculous. The temple was supposed to be empty, right? At this rate, they would reach the temple until nightfall. But just then, Sokka stopped in mid tip-toe.

"Wait," he told the others. "I think I heard something."

They froze in their tracks, and Cody heard a new pair of footsteps. When they turned around, they saw five elderly men in red robes behind them. They were staring severely over at the younger ones as they blocked their way. Beside them, a huge Magcargo and four Slugma were also glaring sternly at them as if expecting them to make the first strike.

"We are the Fire Sages," the middle one said. "Guardians of the temple of the Avatar."

All five of the heroes had puzzled and startled looks on their faces. But Aang stepped forth and said, "Great! I'm the Avatar!"

But the middle Sage said with an ominous voice, "We know."

Suddenly, all the Fire Sage assumed the FireBending pose and shot a fireball at Aang. Cody gasped at the fireball got closer and closer, preparing for the upcoming blast.

...

_**Commercial Break**_

...

Quickly, the Sages sent three fireballs towards Aang. But just before they hit, Aang assumed the AirBending pose and deflected the fireballs with a blast of air. Once the Sages were preparing another attack, he turned towards Sokka, Katara, and the Pokémon.

"I'll hold them off. Run!" he called.

Aang turned back to face the Fire Sages as Sokka, Katara, Cody, and Totodile ran off down the corridor. Magcargo watched them go and fired a Flamethrower after them, but Totodile turned on the spot and deflected it with Water Gun. The spray of water hit Magcargo, making the Lava Pokémon cry out in pain. Three Slugma fired their Flamethrowers after them, but Cody fired a Thunderbolt at them in return.

Once they were away from the attacking Pokémon, Aang had joined up with them. It looked like he had managed to fend off the Sages and ran off before they recovered. As they approached a corner, Aang suddenly came running towards them. They all stopped abruptly to avoid running head-first into the Avatar.

"Follow me!" he called.

Totodile gasped, "Man, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Warning next time!"

Sokka panted, "Do you know where you're going?"

"Nope!" Then Aang went around the corner as the others began to follow him. Suddenly, Aang came running back around the corner, a Fire Sage and a Slugma hard on his heels. "Wrong way!"

Behind them, the Fire Sage was calling, "Come back!"

Cody could not believe the Fire Sage was telling them to stop; they were their enemies! He kept up with Katara as they and the others continued to race around corner after corner, trying to lose the pursuing Sage and the Slugma. Finally, they ran into a corridor that turned out to be a dead end. With no escape, they faced the Fire Sage.

"I don't want to fight you," he said. "My Slugma and I are your friends."

"Slugma!" the Slugma beside him said. It appeared it couldn't speak English.

Quickly, they all got into battle positions, Sokka snapping, "FireBenders aren't our friends."

"Wait," Totodile suddenly said. "Why don't we hear what they have to say?"

Cody had no idea why his best friend would say this, but he stopped the attack as the Fire Sage came carefully towards them. As he approached Aang, he dropped down to his knees and bowed low to the Avatar.

"I know why you're here, Avatar," the Fire Sage said. As Aang relaxed, he went on, "You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. Slugma and I can take you to him."

Aang shared confused looks with the others before turning back. "How?"

The Sage reached towards the wall and turned the light fixture, which was a lever. Behind the fixture was small hole in the wall. The Sage took a deep breath and shot fire through the hole; next to him, Slugma let out small spurts of Ember into the hole. And just like that...a secret passage was revealed, a long stairway carved into the mountain disappearing into the dark.

"Wow," Totodile remarked. "Looks dark down there."

"Slugma! Slug!" Slugma cheered.

Totodile gave the Lava Pokémon a strange look. "Can you speak something other than your name, Slugma?"

Slugma shook his head. "Slug!"

"This way," the Sage was saying, pointing to the door.

All the humans of Rescue Team Avatar still showed anxiety and distrust. Cody could barely blame them; what if it was all a trap. But by the way the voices of the other Sages were coming around, he realized that they had no choice: they had to follow this old man to where they were going to.

The Sage turned quickly and nervously behind him before looking back to the younger ones, whispering, "Time is running out. Quickly!"

Aang and Katara looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Cody and Totodile did the same thing; they had experience with going underground with rocks around them. The last place like that they went to was the Magma Caverns, where they had to rescue Team A.C.T. from a very angry Groudon. All three started going towards the opening to the secret passage as the Sage and Slugma followed them into there. He touched a lever and closed the door behind them.

_Well, here we are, _Cody thought. _Under a mountain. What will we find in the end?_

**...**

Dark black smoke billowed from the back of the damaged ship. Zuko was holding on to a bar, his hand clenching into a fist. Absol saw Torkoal sneak a worried glance over towards the exiled prince, and the Disaster Pokémon felt himself doing the same.

Ever since they had gotten past Zhao unharmed, the FireBender had been quiet and thought over some stuff. However, he had not pulled the ship over and get it to a repairman. Even though he wanted to be on Zuko's good side, he was a bit nervous about asking; he did not want to get him angry.

"What's he up to, Uncle?" Zuko was muttering. "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?"

"I think he didn't like the smell of our ship?" Absol suggested. Zuko didn't glare at him this time, which was surprising. So Absol looked away and muttered, "Never mind."

Iroh spoke up, "Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after...the Avatar."

Zuko looked over the side of the ship and smirked. "If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do."

**...**

Cody could not see if the sun was going to set; there were no holes in the ceiling. Totodile was beside him and helping him walk as they followed Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo, and Shyu (the name of the Sage) down the stairs and into a vast and cavernous system of tunnels. All eight of them (which included Slugma) continued to walk through the tunnels, the live magma from the volcano to their right.

Speaking of Slugma, the Fire type Pokémon was sliding along easily in the lava as if it was a hot spring. It looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home," Shyu was saying. "He formed these secret passages out of the magma."

"Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asked.

Shyu shook his head. "No. But my grandfather knew him. Many generations of Fire Sages and their Pokémon guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place."

Aang then asked, "Is that how you knew I was coming?"

"Slugma!" Slugma called, coming out of the lava for a bit.

"So does that mean 'yes?'" Cody asked.

As Slugma nodded, Katara joked, "Looks like you're speaking Slugma's language, Cody."

"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred," Shyu went on. "The statue of Avatar Roku, its eyes...began to glow!"

"That's when we were at the Air Temple. Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too!" Katara exclaimed before turning to Cody. "You remember when that happened?"

Cody nodded while Totodile added, "How could I NOT forget? He almost blew the freakin' place to the ground!"

Shyu nodded. "At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world."

"If this is the Avatar's temple, why did the Sages attack me?" Aang asked, looking confused.

"Things have changed," the Sage replied, patting Slugma on the head. "In the past, the Sages and their Pokémon were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, they eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But he never came."

Aang suddenly paused, making the others turn around to see what was up. The AirBender was leaning against the tunnel wall, looking upset. "They were waiting for me..." he groaned.

Hearing this, Sokka put his arm around Aang's shoulders and remarked, "Hey, don't feel bad! You're only a hundred years late."

Aang glared at him while Totodile growled, "Wow. Way to be _sensitive._ But be happy you didn't even include when his entire people were wiped out."

"Slugma! Ma!" Slugma gurgled angrily.

Before a fight broke out, Shyu quickly stepped in. "They lost hope the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other Sages were forced to follow him." He shook his head in dismay. "I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When Slugma and I learned you were coming, I knew we would have to betray the other Sages.

"Thank you for helping me," Aang, who had heard this all, replied as he bowed lightly.

Shyu smiled down at the young Avatar while Slugma oozed up to Aang and nuzzled his hand with his head. Watching Aang pet the Fire type Pokémon without being burned, Cody felt like he was back in the just-formed Rescue Team Avatar he and Totodile made. He had been unsure of what to do in his future, but he had his friends beside him.

Soon enough, they all started climbing up some steps in the tunnel. While they climbed up and up, Shyu began speaking.

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary," he began explaining. "Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him."

After that, Slugma nodded and added, "Slugma! Slug! Slug!"

Cody stared over at him and raised his paw. "Excuse me, Shyu. Can Slugma speak at all?"

Shyu lowered his head as if to think. Finally, he looked over at the young Pikachu and replied, "Why...yes. Yes he can. But he can only speak to me. He tells me something, and I translate for him."

"So what's he saying?"

"He's asking why you keep asking if he speaks normally."

Cody rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

The small group went on at they climbed up the final steps into the temple. Shyu pushed up on a trapdoor, and it opened as he went through it, followed by Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo, Cody, and Totodile. Cody had to admire the vastness of the room, for it could fit a Groudon in there. All of a sudden, Shyu stopped, his amber eyes wide.

"NO!" he cursed.

"Shyu, what's wrong?" Aang asked, looking worried.

Shyu turned to face him. "The sanctuary doors...they're closed."

Katara spoke up, "Can't you just open them with FireBending? Like you opened that other door?"

"No," Shyu replied, shaking his head. "Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the Sages and their Pokémon must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts."

"Oh..." Totodile sighed. He looked like he wanted to see some FireBending.

To the side, Sokka was itching his chin thoughtfully as he muttered, "Five fire blasts, huh?" Then a lantern suddenly lit up as he said, "I think I can help you out."

Totodile looked up at the lantern. "So I'm guessing that's a fire equivalent to fire?"

"I...guess so..." Sokka stammered. "Why'd you ask?"

"Nothing big," Totodile said. "I was just...reminded of this happening in shows like this. That's all."

**...**

Smoke was still pouring out of the damaged rear engine as Zuko's ship made its way through the water. Zuko himself had ordered the men to open the back hatch of the ship. Absol looked down as a smaller vessel was being let down into the sea; it looked a bit like the ship they were riding in now.

"Uncle, keep heading north," Zuko told Iroh. "Zhao will follow the smoke trail while we use it as a cover."

"And then we can catch the Avatar and go home," Absol said.

But all Iroh did was grunt, stroke his beard, and shake his head disapprovingly. Torkoal looked worried, yet he said nothing as he stood by his master's side.

Absol looked over at them before looking down at the smaller ship being positioned. It landed safely in the water and disappeared into the smoke like a little tugboat. If this plan would work, they would catch up with the Avatar and finally catch him off guard. But the scar on his face stung as he remembered battling against that Pikachu.

_I want to fight him again. VERY soon..._

**...**

Everyone was still standing in front of the doors to the Fire Temple Sanctuary. Sokka was sitting on the floor, Momo on one knee and Totodile on the other. They were watching him filling small sacks with lamp oil

"This is a little trick I picked up from my father," Sokka started to explain. "I seal the lamp oil inside an animal skin casing, Shyu and Slugma light the oil soaked twine, and...ta-da! Fake FireBending!"

Katara smiled at her brother. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Sokka."

Shyu nodded. "This might actually work."

"Hopefully it doesn't fail," Totodile added.

Then Sokka stuffed the animal skins into the mouths of the five lion heads guarding the door to the sanctuary. He and Totodile ran away from the doors, joining Katara, Aang, Cody, and Momo behind the nearest columns for protection from the blasts. Shyu and Slugma were still at the big doors, fixing to prepare their attacks.

"The Sages will hear the explosions, so as soon as they go off, you rush in," Shyu told them.

"It's almost sunset," Katara spoke up, turning to Aang. "Are you ready?"

Aang nodded. "Definitely."

Shyu nodded before turning to Slugma, commanding, "Slugma! Use Flamethrower on the fuses!"

Slugma nodded and sent a stream of fire to them as Shyu sent a small stream of fire past the five lion heads. The twine began to ignite, and the two of them joined Aang behind the pillar. Sokka crouched and held on tight onto the stitch of Katara's Water Tribe robe. Cody did the same thing while Totodile shivered beside Slugma.

The small bombs went off, and smoke filled the hall, making the gang (who had hidden their faces from the blast) look up. Just then, Aang ran towards the doors and pulled on the handles, but the doors did not budge...not one inch.

"They're still locked..." he groaned, sinking to the floor.

"It didn't work," Shyu sighed, looking towards the window.

Cody followed his gaze as more worry filled his mind. The sun had already begun to set over the mountains in the distance...and that meant they were running out of time.

...

_**Commercial Break**_

...

"Why?! Won't?! It?! Open?!" Aang yelled, angrily launching air blasts at the locked door. "Aargh!"

The Avatar had recovered from despairing and was now venting his anger on the blocked doors. Cody, angry that they were wasting time, joined him by slamming on the doors with Iron Tail. The others looked worried and didn't do anything first...until Katara stepped in.

"Aang, stop!" she told him, grabbing his arm and pulling him away gently. "There's nothing else we can do."

"You too, Cody!" Totodile called, pulling him away gently. When the Pikachu broke free, the Big Jaw Pokémon added, "Don't be taking your angry out on those doors. Okay?"

Cody nodded before turning to Aang, who was hanging his head. "I'm sorry I put you through all this for nothing," he moaned, looking up at them.

"Slugma..." Slugma said, giving Aang a reassuring smile.

"So by that...you mean 'It's okay?'" Cody asked. When Slugma nodded, he said, "Oh my God! I can now speak Slugma!"

Just then, Sokka approached the doors, running a finger through the soot produced by the blasts. Momo chittered and crawled over the lion faces as if he was a little spider monkey. Totodile left Cody's side and joined him in inspecting the soot on the door.

"I don't get it. That blast looked as strong as any FireBending I've seen," Sokka muttered.

Totodile nodded. "Yeah...sure looked like it."

Suddenly, Katara came up to them, her blue eyes wide. "Sokka! You're a genius!"

"Wait, how is Sokka genius?" Aang asked in disbelief. "His plan didn't even work."

Sokka smirked. "Come on Aang, let her dream."

"Go with the flow, man," Totodile added, but Aang still looked uncertain.

"You're right," Katara told Aang. "Sokka's plan didn't work...but it _looks_ like it did."

Aang didn't change the doubt. "Did the definition of 'genius' change in the last hundred years?"

"Actually, look closely," Cody spoke up, pointing a paw to the scorch marks. "They might think you can secretly FireBend and got in there without their help. Does that clear your mind a bit?"

"...yeah...a little bit," the Avatar replied.

**...**

"Hurry! The Avatar has entered the sanctuary!"

The others hid behind the pillars, waiting for Aang to make his move. Cody had decided to join the Avatar in meeting Avatar Roku; the past Avatar had been entering his dreams, and he wanted to know why he kept doing that. Once that would happen, then he could be free to tell the others about Roku appearing in his dreams.

Shyu and his Slugma had arrived with the other Sages as a Sage called, "How did he get in?"

"I don't know," Shyu replied, pointing to the door. "But look at the scorch marks and down there!"

A shadow, as if of two feet, was moving back and forth behind the door. Cody saw Aang's face light up in recognition, but it was about the plan they were going through. He wanted to say _See, I told you, _but he didn't. They could get in trouble before the plan would start.

"He's inside," the Fire Sage leader hissed. "Open the doors immediately before he contacts Avatar Roku. Magcargo and all four Slugma, prepare the attack!"

Cody crouched below the statue of a dragon, looking up to see Aang rested on the dragon's tail wrapped around the pillars. He led Aang away as they slowly inched their way to the floor, ready to run the minute the Fire Sages opened the doors. But while they crept out, they stopped at the sound of approaching footprints.

All five Fire Sages were in their FireBending pose, shooting five fire blasts into the lion's heads on the face of the door. Magcargo and the four Slugma shot Flamethrowers towards the doors to add to the FireBending. Smoke appeared around the door posts, and as the blasts worked their way through the lock, the doors began to creak and open slowly. Cody lowered his head from the light arriving, for it was quickly blinding.

As the smoke began to dissipate, the Fire Sages looked down to see a lone Momo inside the sanctuary. The winged lemur sneezed and looked up quizzically at the Fire Sages.

"It's the Avatar's lemur!" the head Fire Sage shouted. "He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!"

"Tricked!" Magcargo roared.

A Slugma cried, "Bamboozled!"

Another Slugma shouted, "We've all been smeckledorfed!"

"That's not even a word and I agree with you!" the head Sage snapped.

At that moment, Momo suddenly leapt at the Fire Sage's face, knocking him down. Katara and Sokka jumped out from behind two pillars and grabbed the two nearest Fire Sages, pulling their hoods over their heads while Totodile leapt out behind them, slamming the Magcargo's face hard with an Aqua Tail attack. Shyu grabbed the last Fire Sage while Shyu's Slugma used Fire Blast to keep the other Pokémon at bay.

When all the Fire Sages except Shyu were subdued, Shyu called, "Now, Aang!"

"Aang! Now's your chance!" Katara called.

"Hurry, you two!" Totodile called. "We can't keep 'em off forever!"

Cody nodded and was about to do so, but suddenly, something made him stop. Something in the dark had grabbed his tail and was pulling him back into the shadows. When the being stepped out, he saw that it was Prince Zuko's Absol holding onto his tail. Cody tried to kick at Absol's face, but the Disaster Pokémon pinned his foot down with his forepaw. After a slash on the head, the Pikachu was picked up and saw another shocking scene.

Aang was appearing from behind a column...with Prince Zuko. The banished Prince had Aang's arms tightly behind his back as he hissed, "The Avatar's coming with me!"

The tables had turned for the good guys now. Momo flew towards the ceiling, and the soldiers were unable to catch him. Katara, Sokka, and Shyu were tied with chains to the nearest column while Totodile and Shyu's Slugma were shoved into cages. Zuko pushed the struggling Aang towards the opening in the floor that led to Avatar Roku's secret tunnels. Absol had picked Cody up and was dragging him towards the same area, Cody's tail dragging limply across the ground.

"Close the doors!" Zuko called over his shoulder. "Quickly!"

Aang looked over his shoulder at Sokka and Katara while Cody looked over at Totodile. As all four of them reached the opening, Cody saw that there was some way he could get free. Pulling his tail up, he managed to smash it into Absol's face, hoping he would let go.

He did. So Cody slipped out of the Dark type Pokémon's grasp and used Quick Attack to shove him down the stairs. When Absol disappeared, Cody turned to see that Aang had made several swift moves and knocked Prince Zuko off balance. The Avatar kicked down the stairs and spun around quickly, running towards the doors of the sanctuary, which were beginning to close.

As soon Cody joined up with him, Katara shouted, "Go!"

So Aang banked left and jumped into the air to avoid a fire blast while Cody deflected the fire blast with Thunderbolt. The Avatar and the Pikachu made several turns in mid-air and used the heads of the rest of the Fire Sages as stepping stones on their way to the doors. They both sailed through the doors just as they were closing.

Then...as the doors closed... "He made it!" Katara cheered.

"Yeah!" Totodile cheered. "You go, you two!"

Cody panted as he stood beside Aang after the leap before they looked up, crouching in front of the statue of Avatar Roku. A blast of bright white light came from an octagonal window at the top of the sanctuary; the light was reddish and moved up the great statue.

"The light hits the statue, and I talk to Roku," Aang told Cody.

"Really?" Cody asked.

Aang nodded. "Yeah. So why isn't anything happening?"

Suddenly in some way or another, Cody realized that his secret of seeing Avatar Roku in his dreams would have to come out sooner or later. He knew he would get a lot of questions from him, but it was worth it to let Aang know. So while Aang looked up at the statue, Cody turned his head to him.

"Hey Aang? I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Aang asked, looking down at him.

Dragging his forepaws, he said, "You know how you'll be visiting Roku in the Spirit World, right?" When he nodded, the Pikachu said, "Well...I've been having these dreams lately. Roku's appeared in them and spoke with me a few times."

Aang gaped down at him. "Really? What'd he say?"

"Actually...he's talked to me in my dreams before Totodile and I met you," Cody confessed. "He helped Gardevoir, a friend of mine and Totodile, on our way to save the world the first time. And he said...he said something about us helping you save the world."

He looked up to see what Aang could be thinking after the secret was out. From the looks of it, he looked quite thoughtful while Cody stepped back to look over the room. At last, Aang spoke.

"I think I know what this means," the Avatar murmured. "I think it means our teams have to unite to save the world together...and that destiny brought all of us together...right?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah."

**...**

Four of the Fire Sages and Prince Zuko were getting into FireBending poses while Absol, the three Slugma, and Magcargo joined them. They shot ten simultaneous fire blasts at the doors before they fused into five flames. This time, however, the lock mechanism did not respond.

This made Totodile feel relieved. Aang and Cody couldn't get hurt if the Fire Nation failed to get through the doors. But by the look on Prince Zuko's face, he was extremely angry. Absol looked calmer, but he also looked a bit angry.

"Why isn't it working?!" Zuko hissed. "It's sealed shut!"

"It must have been the light," a Sage said. "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."

But just then, Zuko gave a sharp command, and a Sage untied Shyu and his Slugma from the pillar they were tired to. Totodile, Katara, and Sokka looked on as Shyu ended up kneeling on the floor in front of Prince Zuko. His hands were tied behind his back, and Slugma struggled in his cage as the four Fire Sages stood behind them.

When they were forced to bow, Zuko hissed at Shyu, "Why did you help the Avatar?"

"Because it was once the Sages' duty," Shyu replied without flinching. "It is still our duty."

"Slugma! Slug!" Slugma cheered. Apparently, whatever he said caused the other Slugma to gasp.

Suddenly, from behind Prince Zuko, the sound of one pair of hands clapping was heard, and a man stepped out from behind a pillar. It was the same man with the sideburns and the Magmortar approaching with Fire Nation troops. Totodile wondered how they got there so quickly.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance," the man sneered. "I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him."

The head Fire Sage bowed low before him. "Commander Zhao..."

Commander Zhao looked up and sneered over at Zuko. "And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But your little smoke screen didn't work. Four traitors in one day...the Fire Lord will be pleased."

A Fire Nation soldier moved towards Zuko and grabbed him from behind. Absol tried to defend his master, but the Magmortar pinned him down, one cannon-like hand to the throat.

"You're too late, Zhao," Zuko hissed. "The Avatar and his Pikachu are inside, and the doors are sealed."

"No matter," Zhao simply said, not looking bothered. "Sooner or later, they have to come out."

Totodile, Katara, and Sokka exchanged worried glances while Shyu and his Slugma looked down in defeat. If Aang and Cody didn't hurry up and talk with Roku, then...well, Totodile didn't know what would happen. But whatever the case, they were wasting time now.

_Cody and Aang, if you can hear me...GET THE HECK OUT HERE!_

**...**

Outside the window, the sun was sinking slowly into the sea. Cody saw Aang still standing in the center of the sanctuary facing Roku's statue, not doing anything. If they could, they would just go ahead and figure out how to get to speak to Roku as soon as possible. But now they had to just stand there as the light from the window was now on the statue's chest.

"Why isn't anything happening?" Aang muttered. "I don't know what I'm doing! All I know is AirBending! Please, Avatar Roku, talk to me!"

Suddenly, Cody saw the sunlight move up the statue's face, tensing up. When the sunlight hit the statue's eyes, they began to glow as the sanctuary was filled with white smoke.

"I think you did something," Cody said. "And where did this smoke come from?"

When the smoke cleared, they were now standing face to face with a familiar man on the top of a mountain. This man had dark red Fire Nation robes, a white beard, and golden eyes to boot. And the Pokémon next to him made Cody gasp: it was a Moltres. The tall fire bird was gazing down at the newcomers as if they were students ready to be trained.

_Avatar Roku!_

Said Avatar greeted the younger, "It's good to see you, Aang. What took you so long?" As Aang bowed deeply to Avatar Roku, the former turned to Cody and said, "Greetings, Cody. It's good to see you again."

"Thanks," Cody replied. "I suppose those dreams did come true, huh?"

"Indeed," Roku said. Turning to Aang, he said, "I have something very important to tell you, Aang. That is why, when you were in the spirit world, I sent my dragon to find you."

"Is it about that vision?" Aang asked. "The one with the comet?"

Roku nodded. "Yes."

Aang tilted his head to one side. "What does it mean?"

"One hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin used that comet to begin the war," Roku began. "He and his FireBending army harnessed its incredible power and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations."

"That is why they call it the Sozin's Comet," Moltres spoke up. His voice was low and smooth like a Mexican luchador. "It was in name of Fire Lord Sozin."

"So the comet made them stronger?" Aang asked.

Cody added, "And even stronger than the strongest Fire type attack?"

Roku nodded again. "Yes. Stronger than you could even imagine."

Aang protested, "But that happened a hundred years ago. What does the comet have to do with the war now?"

"Listen carefully. You too, Cody," Roku added to the Pikachu. "Sozin's comet will return by the end of the summer. And Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to finish the war once and for all. If he and his ultimate Pokémon succeed, even the Avatar won't be able to restore balance to the world. Aang, you must defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives."

"But I haven't even started learning WaterBending, not to mention earth and fire," Aang insisted, looking worried.

"That's why we're going to the Northern Water Tribe," Cody added. "We're gonna help him and Katara learn how to WaterBend."

Roku replied, "Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice. But if the world is to survive, Aang, you must do it by summer's end."

_By summer's end?! _Cody yelped silently as Aang looked worried and a bit afraid. _That's only eight months away! But then again...what else do we have to lose?_

Aang let out a sigh. "What if I can't master all the elements in time? What if I fail?"

"You cannot fail," Moltres told him. "Believe in yourself and you will do fine."

Roku nodded to his friend before turning back to the younger Avatar. "We know you can do it, Aang, for you have done it before. And Cody, you have saved the Pokémon world twice. We know you can do it again." He and Moltres looked over the mountain before he spoke up, "The solstice is ending. We must go our separate ways...for now."

"But I won't be able to come back to the temple," Aang protested. "What if I have questions? How will I talk to you?"

"I am a part of you. When you need to talk to me again, you will find a way." Roku closed his eyes and opened them again before speaking again. "A great danger awaits you at the temple. I can help you face the threat. But only if you are ready."

Aang closed his eyes as if to see the danger for himself. Cody remembered that their friends were in danger from Prince Zuko and the other Fire Sages. And with Prince Zuko around, their friends could be in grave danger from his anger. But when Aang opened his eyes, Cody gaped at the sight of them glowing.

"I'm ready," the Avatar finally replied, his voice echoing with the spirits of the past.

Cody backed away, not wanting to try and interfere with whatever Aang was fixing to do. But all of a sudden, the scenery around them was bathed in bright white light. Smoke began to swirl a bit faster and faster around them, and Cody saw Roku and Moltres disappear behind it all. And before he could say anything else, he felt himself grow dozy and fall unconscious to the ground.

**...**

Commander Zhao and his troops were standing in front of the sanctuary doors, waiting for Aang and Cody to emerge. The troops assumed the FireBending pose while Magmortar raised his big cannon-like hands towards the doors.

"When those doors open, unleash all your FireBending power," Zhao was saying.

Totodile looked around as he, Sokka, Katara, and Shyu were still chained to a column. Slugma was still pinned down by the other Slugma, who were gurgling at him furiously in their own words. Totodile just wanted to get out of this chain and go fight those FireBenders in defense for his friends, but thanks to his arms being tied, it was impossible for now.

"How're Aang and Cody going to make it out of this?" Katara asked with worry.

"How're _we_ going to make it out of this?" Sokka asked with equal worry.

Totodile shrugged the best he could while he was tied up. "I don't know, but they better freakin' hurry up!"

So they all looked back at the Fire Nation troops, who were standing ready to attack. Totodile kept praying that those two made it out alive; if not...their mission would be as good as done.

Suddenly, a blinding white light was coming from inside the sanctuary. Commander Zhao and his troops were silhouetted against the light while smoke billowed out into the entryway from the bottom of the door. The Fire Sages were standing nearby, looking at the floor in shock and fear; so did Sokka, Katara, and Shyu as they were tied up. Totodile and Slugma, on the other hand, were staring in awe.

The light from the sanctuary continued to grow. All five prisoners turned their heads away to shield their eyes, but Zhao and his troops did not. The door began to open slowly while Totodile looked over at Prince Zuko, who was tied to another column. He and Absol also turned away as Zhao and two of his soldiers stood ready to attack.

"Ready..." the Commander was hissing.

The light faded, and as the doors began to fully open, two large glowing eyes were visible in the dark of the sanctuary. Smoke continued to emanate from the sanctuary, and Totodile could see Magmortar pointing a glowing cannon hand towards the new being. Sokka and Katara were now struggling against their chains while Totodile gaped on.

"No! Aang!" Katara was calling, her eyes widened in fear for the Avatar.

"Cody! Get your tail outta there!" Totodile called. "Hurry!"

Then... "Fire!"

At that, he shot a fire blast into the sanctuary while the other Fire Sages fired some blasts into there too, their Pokémon following suit. Magmortar raised his cannon-arms and fired a mighty Flamethrower towards the door. In total, nine soldiers, including Zhao, were now concentrating all their fire power at the entrance to the sanctuary. But for some odd reason...the fire blasts were not entering the sanctuary.

They were being held at the door and manipulated into a gigantic ball of swirling fire as said ball slowly began to open. At the heart of the fire ball was a tall white-bearded man with dark red robes, his eyes glowing. Zhao had a look of shock on his face while Magmortar backed up to the pillar that Sokka, Katara, Totodile, and Shyu were tied to. And beside the white-bearded man was a massive Moltres, fire dancing in its eyes.

"Avatar Roku!" Shyu gasped.

"Avatar Roku?" Totodile yelped. Cody had told him about how the former Avatar had always been appearing in his dreams ever since he became a Pikachu. It was like seeing a legend in the flesh.

Then, as it flew over everyone's heads, Moltres cried, "I represent the power of fire! My fire can never be extinguished!"

Roku was Bending the fire ball back towards himself and shot it out into the room. Zhao and his soldiers were knocked to the floor while Magmortar was thrown down to the floor by Moltres' Sky Attack. The great heat of the blast melted the chains holding Sokka, Katara, Shyu, Zuko, and the Pokémon. Zuko, now free, ran off towards the stairs while Absol followed him, sending a Flamethrower at Magmortar.

Avatar Roku's blast and Moltres' Flamethrower had now breached the temple walls thanks to the wall crumbling. The Avatar's entire body was now glowing as he turned to look at the cowering Fire Sages and their Pokémon, who fled for their lives. Totodile had to keep dodging the blasts of fire Moltres was firing in all directions.

Just then, Shyu told the younger ones, "Avatar Roku and his Moltres are going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!"

Katara retorted, "Not without Aang and Cody!"

"Yeah!" Totodile added. "They're our friends! And friends stick together till the end!"

Meanwhile, Roku raised his arm high and brought it down on the floor of the temple as Moltres did the same with his wings. The force of their strike shook the floor, and molten lava rose to the surface. Roku lifted his hand up, pulling the magma from deep within the volcano. A wall of hot magma shot up through the entire temple structure, and the lava exploded out of the very top of the temple.

Sokka and Katara were crouched behind a pillar for protection while Totodile stayed out, trying to put out the flames with Water Gun. Avatar Roku lowered his both hands, took a deep breath, and pushed his breath down. Moltres landed beside him and bent his head down like an obedient dog. The smoke created by Roku's FireBending was sucked back towards him while he and his Pokémon friend were completely shrouded in the smoke. As the smoke swirled and dissipated, Aang was standing in the entryway to the sanctuary, his eyes glowing. He closed his eyes, gave a small groan, and sank to the floor.

And where Moltres had been standing, Cody was there, groaning. He sank down to his knees and began panting, looking as if he had survived through Mt. Blaze again. In the meantime, Katara and Sokka had run up to Aang, helping him up while Totodile did the same for Cody.

"We got your back," Sokka said. "Like Totodile said, friends stick together till the end."

Aang smiled up at him. "Thanks. Where're Shyu and Slugma?"

Katara looked down at him. "I don't know."

"I think they went down the stairs to get outta here," Totodile said. "Now we'll do the same!"

Molten lava was pouring down the sides of the volcano as they looked out the window. Smoke was now billowing from the bottom of the temple. The temple began to sink, and the heroes arrived at the stairs that would lead them out of the temple.

Lava had reached all but the top few steps, but they saw that they were now trapped. One of the columns crashed to the floor behind them, causing them to run towards the hole in the temple wall created by Roku's blast. They saw that the temple was being consumed by the volcano, which made Totodile growl in alarm. Any minute, the lava would catch up with them...but they could also jump into the sea.

Suddenly, a caw made them look up and gasp. Momo was gliding down towards them, Appa and Starly behind him. All five of them slid down one of the peaks of the temple onto Appa's back and gave him the command to go. So Appa zoomed away just as the temple began to sink down even further. The Pokémon panted as they looked behind them, and they thought they could see the glimmer of fiery wings in the distance.

"Thank God we survived," Cody panted. To Starly, he said, "Thanks for getting Appa and Momo to find us...but you're still not gonna join us, are you?"

"Nope," Starly said with mild regret in his eyes. "When we reach land, I'll still be travelling on my own. But I still hope you guys reach the North Pole."

Cody smiled. "Good luck on your travels."

**...**

Appa was now flying silently through the night sky, surrounded by puffy clouds. Cody looked up at the night sky as he watched the bright full moon. He sat down and stared up at it with Totodile by his side, relishing in watching the moon rise with his best friend. But that came to an end as he saw one person not looking happy.

Aang had drawn apart from his friends, his head hanging down with the weight of what he had learned. Katara got up and moved towards Aang, sitting next to him and putting her arm around his shoulders. Then Sokka got up and moved over, sitting next to Aang and his hand on his arm. Finally, Momo flew towards his master, chittering and landing directly in front of him.

While Cody and Totodile joined in comforting Aang, Appa growled lovingly, his tail rising and falling. The light from the moon grew brighter and brighter as it rose higher into the blackness of the night sky. Cody now knew that their journey was going to get darker and darker each day. Harsh battles, deaths, and anger in war...this was a far cry from Pokémon Square, which was a peaceful place...but there was no turning back.

No turning back at all.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat12: Hope you liked this chapter, folks! And I can't wait to get this series done and over with.**

**But yeah, you'll get to see some part of breaking the fourth wall...like what you saw at the beginning of this episode. I got that little part from Farce Of The Penguins, which is a parody of March Of The Penguins. Not only that, but it's also narrated by the one and only Samuel Jackson!**

**So let's go on with the review stuff. So...read and review! Those who do will get virtual figurines of Avatar Roku and Moltres...and a bucket of your favorite candy. Flames will not be allowed on here, but advice and constructive criticism are welcome anytime...as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: The gang stops at a waterfall so that Aang can learn WaterBending. But Cody sees that Katara is getting jealous, a feeling that makes her do the unthinkable. Meanwhile, Absol joins Zuko in talking with some pirates to **

**See ya next time!**


	14. The WaterBending Scroll

**AvatarCat12: Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while; I've just been busy for quite a while. But today is when that changes, so that means I've uploaded this new chapter.**

**This chapter will begin the start of Pokémon actually joining the Rescue Team. I won't tell you yet who it is; you'll have to read on to see who it is. But I'll give you a clue about who it is: it's a Normal type Pokémon. And I'm sure you all know about Pokémon X and Y, the newest generation of Pokémon games. I can't wait to see that! I hope to get Fennekin as a starter...and Xerneas and Yveltal are awesome!**

**So without any further ado, let's go with the disclaimer and get this done.**

**Disclaimer: Michael Bryan DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Satoshi Tajiri own Avatar: The Last AirBender and Pokémon. Me? Nope. Never have, never will.**

**Summary: The gang stops at a waterfall so that Aang can learn WaterBending. But Cody sees that Katara is getting jealous, a feeling that makes her do the unthinkable. Meanwhile, Absol joins Zuko in talking with some pirates to hunt down the Avatar. Will our heroes try and avoid these bad dudes?**

**Uploading Date: January 14, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The WaterBending Scroll**_

"Would you sit down? If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off!" Sokka snapped as he handled the reins. "What's bugging you anyway?"

Hours had passed since Rescue Team Avatar visited Avatar Roku's temple in the Fire Nation. Appa was flying through a mostly cloudy sky, broken by a few shafts of sunlight that pierced the cloud cover in certain areas. Cody, who was lying in Katara's lap, was feeling relaxed at the moment...but Aang wasn't; instead, the Avatar was pacing up and down Appa's back. He had a feeling that pacing up and down on a flying bison was not a good thing to do.

"It's what Avatar Roku said," Aang replied in worry. "I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives."

Sokka counted off the elements on his fingers. "Well, let's see, you've pretty much mastered AirBending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years...I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."

"Is that supposed to make him feel better?" Totodile asked, raising a brow at him. "Months can be pretty long."

"Totodile's right," Aang groaned, a very exasperated look on his face. "I haven't even started WaterBending, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I gonna do!?" he finished, putting his head in his hands in frustration.

Cody wished he could do something to try and comfort him, but he didn't know how. Despite it being a mission to help the Avatar, he felt closer to Katara than the other humans in the group. It felt nice to be with her and try to help Aang out at the same time.

Speaking of her, she pulled Aang to where she was kneeling in the passenger area. He was now kneeling beside her as she took his hands in hers. Cody felt a little jealous when he saw that, but he brushed it away. How could he try to be jealous at a time like this? Besides, he knew that he and Katara were just friends, and that was how he liked it.

"Calm down. It's going to be okay," Katara murmured softly. "If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know."

"You'd do that?" Aang asked.

The Water Tribe girl nodded her head and smiled. Totodile smiled at her and said, "Wow...that's mighty nice of you. You're one in a million, you know that?"

Cody felt proud of her for being able to cheer Aang up; it seemed that whenever she cheered someone up, they forgot their troubles. He had told Katara about his troubles he had as a human, and she told him to solve them carefully now that he was a Pikachu. The two humans crawled over to the edge of the saddle to look down while Cody stood a bit on the edge.

Katara gave the land below a long look. "We'll need to find a good source of water first."

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in," Sokka joked.

Cody retorted, "Well, why don't _you_ test the puddle out? Make sure no Sharpedo are in it?"

**...**

Their destination was at a huge waterfall followed by a river running away from the bottom of the fall. The heroes were on the left bank, and Aang and Katara were gazing up at the might of the waterfall in excitement and happiness. Cody and Totodile had to tilt their heads back to gaze at the top, almost falling over. It did look like a good place for WaterBending.

"Nice puddle," Sokka grumbled. He was the only one who had a sour look on his face.

"BIG puddle," Totodile chuckled. "Still wanna splash in this one?"

Appa swooped in overhead, grunting loudly and dropping himself into the water, to the anger of some Shellos and Gastrodon. Momo had landed on a rock in the catch basin, but the sun was blotted by a shadow: the wave of water from Appa's messy swan dive. The wave crashed over the lemur, and he got soaked all over, but Appa ignored this as he started rolling over in the water, relaxing.

After this, Aang had removed everything but his undergarments and was ready to join the fun. Cody looked away quickly, wanting to rid his mind of what he just saw. But then he turned around and saw Totodile leap into the water and sigh, floating on his back and sending a jet of water into the air with his mouth.

When he did so, the Big Jaw Pokémon cheered, "Come on in, guys! The water is feeling oh so fine today!"

"Yeah! Don't start without me, guys!" the Avatar called, fixing to jump in.

However, Katara quickly called, "Aang, remember the reason we're here."

Aang stopped and looked back at Katara. He frowned but pulled his pants up anyways, saying, "Oh right, time to practice WaterBending."

"Dang," Totodile remarked, swimming back to land. He shook the water off and asked, "You guys got it serious, huh? I mean this training stuff."

"I'm afraid so, Totodile," Katara told him with a small smile.

Next to them, Sokka grumbled, "Great. So what am I supposed to do?"

"You could...clean the gunk out of Appa's toes?" Aang suggested as he picked up a leafy branch and held it out to him. This made the two Pokémon look grossed out at the prospect of that.

"So, while you four guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking the mud out of a giant bison's feet?" Sokka asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Aang smiled. "Mud and bugs!"

"And why complain about it?" Cody added, wanting to join in. "You've always talked about training your village's kids, so what's wrong with cleaning up?"

For a minute, he expected Sokka to yell at him about it. Then...after a few seconds of thinking, he finally said, "...okay."

Without another word, he picked up the branch and walked away, resigned to his task. Appa was resting low in the water, where he was blowing bubbles...hopefully from the front side. To Cody's relief, he was doing so, wanting to do the same and relax with no worries. But he wanted to see Aang and Katara practice their WaterBending, and no one was going to stop them from their practicing.

_Not on my watch!_

**...**

A jet of fire erupted off the main deck and nearly missed Absol's head. In return, the Disaster Pokémon let his scythe glow dark before sending a Dark Pulse at Prince Zuko. It had been days since they had let the Avatar and his friends escape from their grasp, and they were angrier than before. A good practice fight was what they needed to release their tempers.

Suddenly, the ship tilted to starboard, knocking both combatants off balance. Absol managed to get to his paws and nudge Zuko back to his feet, even if he would be ungrateful.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Right now, I'm not!" Zuko growled without thanking him. "Someone's changing our course!"

He gave a snort and went back inside the ship, Absol quickly on his heels. Once they got inside, they went over to the helmsman, who was doing his job: steering the wheel of the ship.

Immediately, Zuko snapped at the man, "What's the meaning of this mutiny?! No one told you to change course!"

Absol added, "Yeah. Now fess up and it won't go bad for you."

"Actually, someone did." Absol and Zuko looked up to see Iroh and Torkoal playing Pai Sho with some other crewman and his Rhyhorn. It was Iroh who had spoken as he went on, "I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Zuko asked, his golden eyes blazing.

Torkoal shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid not, young'un."

Iroh nodded. "He is right. This is even more urgent. It seems...I've lost my lotus tile."

At this, the old general pushed a piece forward on the Pai Sho board. Absol gave down at the Pai Sho board, unable to think of the possibilities of the game.

Zuko stared at it, confused. "Lotus tile?"

"For my Pai Sho game," Iroh agreed, nodding. "Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko snapped, now losing his patience.

Absol added, "And we won't get back on track until we get that piece back, right?"

"...yes," Torkoal gulped, quickly pulling his head and legs into his shell.

Iroh spoke up, "See, you and Absol, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life!"

Zuko looked like he was trying hard to contain his anger, but then he ended up releasing a gout of flame from his mouth that licked over the ceiling. Beside him, Absol turned away from the elders, gazing out the window. They were getting near to finding the Avatar, and Iroh decided to change course all for a stupid game piece.

Torkoal was still hiding in his shell as he and Iroh were clouded with smoke. But all Iroh did was smile as he waved it away and said, "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew."

**...**

Totodile peered closely at one of the gaps between Appa's toes flossed and shrunk back. Cody saw that whatever he saw there was disgusting, and frankly, he didn't want to know what it was. Fortunately, that was getting cleaned out with Sokka's leafy branch, who had Appa on his back as he cleaned him up with a small grimace.

"Don't get too happy," the Water Tribe warrior grumbled as Appa let out a grunt of gladness. "You gotta do me next."

Cody snorted at this as he turned back to see Katara and Aang standing on the river bank. As Katara began to explain, she started to WaterBend the move she was describing, making Cody walk over to where they were practicing.

"This is a pretty basic move, but it still took me months to perfect, so don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away," she said. "Just push and pull the water like this."

Then she began to bob gracefully back and forth, the water on the river edge moving back and forth with her. Noticing them seeing her, she said, "The key is getting the wrist movement right. Are you getting it?"

"I wanna try," Cody spoke up. The autistic Pikachu rose up to his hind paws and began imitating what his female human friend was showing them.

"It's getting good, Cody," Katara praised him. "Even though you're not a Bender, you can use this move to get around bigger Pokémon."

"Like this?" Aang spoke up, getting up and imitating what Katara was doing.

Katara nodded. "That's almost right. If you keep practicing, I'm sure eventually-"

But she never got the chance to finish, for Aang suddenly shouted cheerfully, "Hey, I'm Bending it already!"

And he was. Aang was actually moving a respectably-sized wave of water around. Cody was moving his head around, trying to catch the movements while his ears twitched in awe. Aang was already getting the hang of this despite only being a novice. Beside them, Katara watched on with pure surprise on her face, her blue eyes widened.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly," she rasped. "It took me two months to learn that move," she added a bit unhappily.

Aang reminded her, "Well, you had to figure it out on your own. I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher."

Cody nodded and added, "He's right. You're also a really great person."

Katara gave them a mix of a smile and a frown. "Thanks."

Later on, they went to the top of the waterfall. Cody saw some more Pokémon there like Stantler and Bellossom, but he could not stop to chat with them. Instead, he turned around to see Aang and Katara preparing for another WaterBending move. So he leapt onto a nearby rock and sat still to keep an eye on their progress.

"So what's next?" Aang asked, looking as excited as a Stantler fawn.

"This is a more difficult move," Katara replied with a suspicious look at him. "I call it 'streaming the water.'" She moved her hands, pulled out of a stream of water from the river, and began to loop it around. "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if..."

But before she could get the words out of her mouth, Aang had already mastered this move. He was moving around his stream of water as if it was a toy as Katara stood motionless. Cody's eyes followed the water, feeling impressed as he watched the water move around. After a few minutes of watching the frolicking, Katara dropped her water stream with a sour look on her face. Aang played with his for a few more seconds and then dumped his back into the river.

"Nice work...though the over-the-head flare was unnecessary," Katara added with a sour frown.

Cody looked back at her incredulously. "What's wrong with the over-the-head flare? I thought it was pretty cool."

This made Katara stare sternly at him while glancing a bit at Aang. "Yeah, but still."

"Sorry," Aang said sheepishly. "Well, don't stop now! Keep 'em coming!"

"Well..." Cody guessed Katara was thinking of a move he couldn't handle. "I kinda know this one other move, but it's pretty hard. I haven't even totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a big powerful wave..."

So she concentrated and finally raised a blob of water out of the river, but it suddenly fell back upon itself when Katara's concentration collapsed. She must have still been too busy in being jealous to notice it.

Aang quickly sat up and said, "So...like this?"

He raised his hands up, and a huge wall of water shot up into the air. Cody was amazed at the height of the wave, one that a skilled Water-type Pokémon would make. He looked around to see Sokka turn around and widen his eyes as the wave towered over him from behind.

"Aang...!" he tried to shout, but it was too late. The wave washed over him and Appa, soaking them both after the cleaning the former did. When he was washed off of the bison, Sokka quickly swam over towards the shore, panting from what happened to him.

Aang didn't pay much attention to that. Instead, he cheered, "Looks like I got the hang of that move! What else ya got?"

Katara just glared at him crossly. "That's enough practicing for today."

"Yeah, I'll say!" Sokka added angrily, pointing at the bags floating down the river. "You just practiced our supplies down the river!"

Aang chuckled nervously at what he did. "Um...sorry. I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff."

Sokka merely sank back under the water, muttering, "Ugh...it was hard enough when you were just an AirBender."

Cody gave a small smile before looking up to see Katara send a jealous glower at Aang before walking off. He felt his smile fade away when he saw the look on her face, knowing that something was up. Concerned about what was going on, he ran over to where she was going to and caught up with her. She gave him a surprised look before turning away and digging around for some money, muttering to herself.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cody asked her.

"It's nothing, Cody." But Cody gave her a disbelieving look, so Katara sighed and confessed, "Fine. Aang's been doing better at WaterBending than me...even though I was a WaterBender since who knows when, and he's not even a true WaterBender!"

The Pikachu leapt up onto her shoulder, giving her a concerned look. "You know he's just excited to learn WaterBending from you. Maybe he's so excited that he turned out to be very good at it. Heck, it might just be a sugar rush."

Katara looked doubtful. "I'm not sure about it. He hadn't had anything sweet to eat since before the solstice."

"Well, whatever happens will happen," Cody told her. "Now can we go shopping? I think I heard of a new Warriors book coming out."

**...**

So all five of them (plus Momo) went over to a port village, walking down the market street. They could see tough-looking sailors, merchants, and shady types run past each other. A bit away from them, a big man was holding up a much smaller one for an unknown reason as the smaller one yelled "Please put me down!" Another shopkeeper in blue was addressing a crowd, holding up a sack and asking "Who's brave enough to look into this bag?"

Cody, Katara, and Aang sat outside the nearest shop, waiting for Sokka to come out with new supplies. Cody was strongly reminded of a pirating village he and Totodile went to while they mentored Team HeartGold. They had escaped in time when Guildmaster Wigglytuff used his Hyper Voice to blast the pirates away. Just when he could think more of this mishap, a door opened to announce the arrival of Sokka and Totodile. The latter was chewing on a rib bone, and Cody knew his friend's species needed weekly meat to chew on.

"We've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave us," Sokka told the group. "Let's spend it wisely."

Totodile, whose arms were filled with supplies, grunted, "Yeah...but _I'm_ carrying the load!"

But Aang now looked sheepish as he said, "Um...make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!"

He produced a white whistle in the shape of a bison from behind his back, drew in a great breath, and blew into it. Sokka quickly covered his ears with his hands to stop the sound he believed was coming. Nothing really happened to the humans; only the sound of rushing air came out. But Cody, Totodile, and Momo covered their ears, hearing the high annoying sound. Cody now wished that if he was a human again, he wouldn't hear it.

Sokka glared at the Avatar when the latter stopped blowing. "It doesn't even work. See, even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk," he added as Momo chittered into his master's ear.

"No offense, Aang, but I'll hold the money from now on," Katara told Aang more gently.

The AirBender looked guilty, but he just shrugged and gave the sack of money to her.

"I'm glad we brought our own money," Totodile muttered to Cody. "And I hate to say, but now I'm glad we didn't bring anyone else with us on the mission. I'd hate to see how much money they would spend."

Cody nodded. "But what I'm more thankful for is that the awful noise stopped."

So they continued on their way, hoping to get back before the sun went down. But across from them, Cody saw a large ship with two Octillery guarding the plank. There was already a person soliciting people by holding up a money bag.

"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation!" he barked. "So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come one by!"

Totodile looked around at the person before turning back to the group. "Doesn't he mean the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe?"

"Don't listen to him," Sokka told him. "I've come across one of these people before. They gave me a fake sword that was actually a frozen fish."

"A frozen fish?" Totodile asked with a smirk. "I'd like to see that."

Just then, the pirate ran right up to them, but they kept walking. Cody kept up the pace, not wanting to talk to anyone shady unless if he knew them. But he didn't know this man, so he thought it was safer to just keep walking.

"Oi! You there!" the man barked. "I can see by your clothing that you're world-traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

"Sure!" Aang piped up, running over to him. "What are curios?"

"Are they Cheerios?" Totodile asked curiously.

The barker paused for a moment. Then... "I'm not entirely sure, but we got 'em!"

Then he took the Avatar by the shoulders and bustled them onto to the ship.

The three of them looked around the Pirate's hold, gawping at their wares. Cody watched while Totodile poked around with powerful-looking swords before looking away. Katara was briefly spellbound by something, so he saw it and froze. In front of them was a stone monkey that was richly jeweled with large blood-red rubies. Noticing its ruby glare, Cody gave a small frightened yelp and hid behind her legs.

"Cody?" Katara asked concernedly. "What's the matter?"

The young Pikachu peeked his head out from behind her legs. "That statue's really scary to look at...especially with those eyes. It's like looking at the Devil himself."

The young WaterBender gazed down at him with a small smile and kind blue eyes. And before Cody could react, she bent down and scooped him up into her arms, making him go limp like a ragdoll. Then before he could say anything else to her, a new sinister voice made his yellow fur start to bristle.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur. That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering."

In the midst of speaking, a man that looked like a pirate emerged from a dark doorway. He wore a wide brim hat and had a huge green parrot-like creature on his shoulder, which screamed a few times when he was finished. On his other shoulder was a Chatot with white facial markings on its face, squawking.

Aang quickly wrapped his arm around Momo and said defensively, "Momo's not for sale."

The man nodded before looking at Cody and Totodile. "Well, what about your Pokémon? They would make good shipmates."

"Good shipmates!" Chatot parroted.

"Uh-uh!" Totodile said indignantly. "We're Pokémon, not objects! You wanna get an object? Then go to the flea market!"

Just then, Cody heard a set of footprints as Katara walked over to a scroll rack. Curious about what she was doing, he leapt down from the counter and padded over to see the scrolls. One of them, the thinnest, had the water symbol on its end...something about WaterBending. She opened it, and they could see the instructions on how to perform various WaterBending moves.

Cody saw his friend's blue eyes light up as she gave a gasp of joy. He could tell that she was very excited to see a scroll she could teach Aang with.

Speaking of Aang, Katara called him over, "Look at this, Aang! It's a WaterBending scroll. Check out these crazy moves!"

"She found it," Cody added, pointing at her.

"Wow," Aang remarked, his eyes alight with surprise. To the man with the parrot-like creature and the Chatot, he asked, "Where did you get a WaterBending scroll?"

The man suddenly slammed his hand down upon the open scroll, rolling it up and smiling a bit roguishly. "Let's just say I got it up north at a most reasonable price," he replied, putting the scroll back in the shelf. "Free!"

But Cody knew that Katara was not deterred about this. He could see her gaze over at the scroll with some kind of longing in her eyes. But he looked around in time as Sokka, who was looking at some merchandise, turned around, trying to puzzle something out.

"Waaait a minute..." the Water Tribe teen muttered. "Sea-loving traders...with suspiciously acquired merchandise...and pet reptile birds...you guys are pirates!"

"We prefer to think of ourselves as _high risk traders_," the pirate barker from before said, putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder and smiling.

_Yep, _Cody thought, his first thoughts coming around. _These are pirates...why do I feel something bad is gonna happen?_

Katara looked down at the two measly copper pieces in her hand and turned to the Pirate Captain. "So how much for the...um..._traded_ scroll?"

"I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom," the Captain told her. "Unless, of course, you kids have two hundred gold pieces on ya right now?"

"...no," Totodile sighed. Turning to Aang with a stern look, he added, "And we'd have a lot more if you hadn't bought that whistle. Why don't you return it and get a refund?"

So all of them drew back slightly to speak in private. Aang then put his hand out, and Cody guessed he had an idea coming up in his shaved arrow-tattooed head.

"I know how to deal with these guys, Katara. Pirates love to haggle. Watch and learn." So she gave him the two copper pieces, and he walked over to the Captain, saying in a pirate-accented voice, "What say to the price of... one copper piece!"

He held the copper piece up to the Captain, a wide grin on his face.

"Hahaha!" the Captain guffawed. "The price is _two hundred_ gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare."

"Okay...two copper pieces!" Aang replied, holding up a second copper piece.

Now the Pirate Captain looked bored. "It's not as amusing the second time, boy."

But just as Cody rolled his eyes, he heard Katara whisper to him, "Cody...I'm going over to the shelves and getting that scroll...no matter what. You and Totodile distract the captain."

Cody was shocked that she would do such a thing, but he didn't want to argue. So all he said was, "Got it, Katara." While she nodded and went off, he turned to Totodile and said, "Hey, Totodile. Katara's gonna get that scroll...no matter what. We gotta distract the captain with something they'd love to do."

"What?!" Totodile yelped. But at the strange looks he got, he whispered, "Got it, Cody." Turning to the Chatot on the Captain's shoulder, he asked, "Hey, you wanna join Cody and I in an insulting contest? I heard pirates love these."

"Of course I do!" Chatot said. "But remember: NEVER repeat an insult! Now...you take the first broadside, shipmates!"

After a bit of thinking, Cody said, "You're a...stupid grog-abusing whale fart!"

Chatot squawked. "Ha! You swear like a child! You're a...bleating knuckle-dragging cabin boy!"

"Oh yeah?" Totodile smirked. "You're a...donkey-eared seaweed-slurping...swabber!" At this, he did a little dance from one foot to the other.

"But methinks you're a...mumbling pus-faced cow pie!" Chatot cackled.

At this point, Aang piped up, "I can make one! How about...monkey-feathered barnacle-backed cow pie?"

The Captain just glared at him. "'Tis already been said, boy. No pirate is worth a salt to repeat an insult. It's a crime before nature."

Before anyone could say anything else, Katara came over to murmur, "Can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks."

Cody knew why she wanted to leave: she already took the scroll from the shelf. So all five of them turned around and walked over to the door, Aang grabbing his staff and calling in his fake pirate accent, "Aye, we be castin' off now!"

"And catch ya on the port bow, you parrot-loving duck-billed bag of vomit!" Totodile called.

"Thanks, landlubber. I really enjoyed the...oi, wait a moment!" Chatot squawked in recognition. "I'M a parrot!"

This made Cody and Totodile laugh at the Music Note Pokémon's blunder before following the humans outside. Once they got there, they saw that Katara was now hugging herself protectively as if she was protecting a baby. But Cody knew that she was just trying to hide the scroll in her Water Tribe robes.

"What was that all about, Katara?" Aang asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection," Sokka told her.

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here," Katara simply told them uneasily, still hugging herself.

Not wanting to get her in trouble, Cody added, "Erm...yeah! The only pirates I'd like are the Pirates Of The Caribbean."

"Or the pirates of Booty Bay from World Of Warcraft," Totodile said.

Just then, the two Pokémon heard a commotion behind them and turned around to see. The pirate barker who had solicited them from before was running across the deck, shouting, "Hey you! Get back here!"

Aang turned around too, smirking and saying, "Well, well, look who's come to their senses. Told ya the haggling would pay off."

Like angry Beedrill from a beehive, the pirates were exiting their ship to come after the five of them, four Machoke and a Floatzel following them. Suddenly, the group was faced with a dozen or so well-armed and obviously angry pirates. Cody felt electricity crackle around his fur, ready for a fight against other Pokémon, while Totodile let ice surround his fist.

_Remember...this is just like a Monster House. A human and Pokémon Monster House._

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

Cody spun around on the spot, glaring at the enemies at all side. The pirates crowded around the five of them, yelling things like "There they are!", "Get'em!" and "Nobody's goin' nowhere!" And their Pokémon were not helping either; the Floatzel was leering at them with missing teeth, and the Machoke were flexing their muscles menacingly.

"I...I don't think these pirates are here to trade with us!" Katara said, looking really scared now.

Thus, they broke into a run. While they ran, Totodile gave Katara a reply: "You think?!" And then he added, "God Almighty, please don't let this be like a Scooby Doo chase scene!"

"Get back here!" a pirate yelled as they gave chase.

The small group ran down an alley, and Cody looked behind him to see that the pirates split into two groups. One followed them while the other, led by the pirate salesmen, went another way.

"This way!" the pirate barker shouted. "Let's cut 'em off!"

As they rounded the corner of a building, Sokka slid a bit and yelped "Whoa!", but they kept going. Katara WaterBended some water from a shop onto the ground and froze it, Totodile helping her by using ice Punch on the water. The lead pirate and a Machoke slipped and hit the ground, thus giving the heroes a clear getaway.

Cody looked around to see the same cabbage dealer from Omashu nuzzling a cabbage happily. He was putting the cabbage in his portable stand, which was full of cabbages, and began to wheel it away. Quickly, Sokka and Katara ran by, bumping the cart and knocking off cabbages, while Cody and Totodile did the same. The shopkeeper saved the cabbages from hitting the ground, but then Aang launched himself between the cart's cover and the cabbages and emerged out the other side.

_Is he gonna do what I think he's going to do? _Cody thought.

And he did. Aang turned around and AirBended the cart up the street to strike the pursuing pirates. The cart disappeared in clouds of dust as did the pirates. The cabbage dealer was gaping at the mess, clearly upset and irritated.

"My cabbages!" he groaned. "This place is worse than Omashu!"

Cody could hear the pirates who were knocked out by the cabbage cart groaning pitifully. He and his friends ran down another alley, but when they turned around the next corner, they were met by the pirate salesman, his Floatzel, and his men. So they had to run back the way they came, the pirates again in pursuit.

"I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives!" a random pirate barked.

Hearing this, Cody turned on the spot while hopping on his hind paws, shouting, "Are you stupid or something?! CATS get nine lives!" And to add insult to injury for them, he zapped a quick Thunderbolt at them, which they dodged.

But when he turned around, he felt his face smack into a wall and looked up; they had run into a blind alley. They turned around to face their hunters, the pirate barker and his men now blocking their way out of there.

"Oh God, this is the end...this is the end..." Totodile looked like he was hyperventilating. But then, a smile came across his face as he asked, "Oh wait, is this _really_ the end? Guess who's here to witness our demise...the nerds!"

This caused the Machoke group to look up and glare to the side before running off. When they were gone, Totodile chuckled after them, "You're so _stupid!_"

"Now who gets to take the steel of my blade first?" the pirate barker's voice made the Big Jaw Pokémon frown again. The human was welding a pair of dual swords together while Floatzel had his paw surrounded in ice.

"No thanks!" Aang shouted.

He AirBended a huge gust of wind at the pirates and their Pokémon, who were blinded with dust and thrown. The young Avatar began to rush forward while opening his glider, preparing for a liftoff. Katara and Sokka ran along behind and then latched onto his legs, Cody and Totodile still beside them.

"Hold on tight!" Aang called.

"Aang, I thought we were running away from the pirates!" Katara insisted.

Aang just replied, "Just hang on!"

Totodile gaped at him. "Are you sure, man?!"

"Just trust me!"

Cody and Totodile gave a shrug at this before leaping onto his shoulder. They had a little bit of trouble gaining altitude at first; in fact, they were bouncing off the heads of many of the pirates they were trying to escape. They eventually got airborne, however, and looked back to see the pirates and the port receding behind them. Looking back ahead of them, Cody made a silent promise to himself that he would never like pirates like them ever again.

**...**

Finally, they made it back to the waterfall and landed on the river bank below there. Everyone got off, and Cody and Totodile walked off to a stump to fix any injuries they had

"I used to kinda look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible," Aang said, closing his glider.

"Yeah. Those guys are terrible news," Cody said, licking at a scrape on his leg. "The only pirates I will ever like will be the Booty Bay pirates in World Of Warcraft."

Katara suddenly gave him and Aang a smile. "I know. That's why I took...this!"

At this, she dug into her Water Tribe robe and took out the pirates' WaterBending scroll. Cody was surprised to see her look so happy despite Aang and Sokka giving her shocked looks. And Totodile was the other only one besides Cody who was not surprised. It looked like the cat was now out of the bag.

"No way..." Aang rasped.

"Isn't it great?" Katara asked brightly.

Sokka stalked up to the two Benders. "No wonder they were trying to hack us up. You stole their WaterBending scroll!"

"I prefer to think of it as 'high-risk trading,'" Katara replied with a self-satisfied smile.

Aang smiled and laughed about the ironic echo. "Good one, Katara!"

"Well, I'll be!" a sudden Southern female voice cheered from nowhere. "That's even better than a magic card trick!"

They looked around, confused about the new voice. Then Katara turned back to her brother, saying, "Sokka, where do you think they got it? They _stole_ it from a WaterBender."

"Or probably _killed_ him or her to get it," Totodile added. As Aang gave him a weird look, he asked defensively, "What?!"

"It doesn't matter," Sokka told him. Turning back to Katara, he snapped, "You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes!"

"These are _real_ WaterBending forms," Katara retorted with an edge in her voice. "You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn WaterBending."

But now...Cody could hear the envy from before in Katara's voice, the envy that she displayed when Aang got a WaterBending move right and she didn't. He realized it at the moment: she didn't steal the scroll for her and Aang to learn WaterBending; she only got it for herself. With a small jolt of shame, he knew he should not have helped her distract the Pirate Captain and his Chatot...but she was his friend.

When he heard what his sister said, Sokka just muttered "Whatever" and walked off towards their camp. Totodile cast the Benders a curious and wary glance before quickly running after the Water Tribe warrior.

"Well, what's done is done. We have it," Aang said, looking down at the scroll. "We might as well learn from it."

**...**

Absol hated shopping. There would always be people bumping against each other and prices that would be too high. The good thing about being in this port town was watching the Wingull fly above him...as long as they left no surprises. He and Zuko were waiting outside for Iroh and Torkoal to come out with a lotus piece for their game, but they were starting to get bored. The latter had his arms folded across his chest and was staring towards the sea, clearly cross.

But just when they started to get bored, Iroh and Torkoal walked out of the market. Absol got to his paws right away, feeling the relief of standing up.

"I've checked all the shops on this pier," Iroh said. "Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace."

"Good," Absol groaned, getting to his paws. "Now we can get back on the road, right?"

Zuko turned to look at him before whirling on his uncle, snapping, "It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!"

Instead of looking intimidated, Iroh just chuckled. "Quite the contrary. I always say the only thing better than finding something you were looking for, is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"

In the middle of Iroh's saying, a parade of Fire Nation soldiers walked by, carrying armloads of goods that Iroh just bought. One of them was some kinds of brass musical instrument while a Rhyhorn was pulling a wagon with a big drum in there.

"You bought a sumki horn?" Zuko asked curiously.

"For music night on the ship," Iroh said. "Now if we only had some woodwinds..."

"Woodwinds?" Absol asked. "What're those?"

Iroh looked around at him. "Think of them as musical chimes made of wood."

Absol just shrugged, not knowing the old man so well. But he pushed that to the side as they began walking down the dock in a view of a pirate ship. Seeing the ship, Absol narrowed his eyes in anger, not bothering to NOT let his fur bristle. It was pirates who had kidnapped him when he was a cub, and it caused him to dislike pirates a lot more. He had hoped to never see another pirate ever again, but it looked like fate wanted to tease him.

But Iroh did not look disturbed. Instead, he said cheerfully, "This place looks promising!"

So the four of them went inside the ship to check out the wares. Iroh and Torkoal were looking at a stone monkey that was richly jeweled with large blood-red rubies. Absol felt a little intimidated about how it looked, but the older ones looked excited.

"Ooo! That is handsome!" Iroh declared. "Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"

"Indeed," Torkoal replied, nodding. "Now we can find a coal-warmer for coal I could use."

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with," Absol turned to see a pirate speak to another, a leader-like captain with a reptile bird on one shoulder and a Chatot on the other. "And Floatzel here got knocked out by that Pikachu."

_Pikachu? _Absol thought. Had that Pikachu that beat him a few times come across here? And so had the Avatar apparently, for Zuko had stalked over and said, "This monk...did he have an arrow on his head?"

The pirates turned to look at the Fire Nation prince, giving him weird looks before nodding. Then Absol asked, "And what did the Pikachu look like?"

The Floatzel, which was grunting from a paralyzed paw, groaned, "The little pest had yellow fur, a lightning-shaped tail, and..." Absol had started to roll his eyes at the obviousness of this weird Pokémon. "...human-like hazel eyes."

Meanwhile, behind them, Iroh had picked up the jeweled monkey with a huge grin on his face, making monkey noises in the background. Absol rolled his eyes, but there was something else that made him feel better: these pirates knew where the Avatar and that Pikachu were at. Even though he hated pirates, they could help him get revenge on his claimed rival...and help Zuko get the Avatar.

_This better work. 'Cause if it doesn't...I don't know what will._

**...**

"I just want to try this one move first. and then it's all yours."

Cody and Totodile looked up from the river (for fish-sighting) to see how the WaterBending lesson went so far. Aang and Katara were standing by the river, the former now holding open the scroll for her and to the side. Katara was leaning backward, assuming the WaterBending stance prescribed in the scroll.

After studying some more, she said, "'The single water whip'...looks doable."

"Reminds me of a Water type Vine Whip," Totodile remarked.

Katara raised a stream of water and whipped it around...but it hit her in the forehead, leaving a small bruise. Sokka, visible over her shoulder and sitting cross-legged on a rock, began to laugh. This made her looked over at him with a cross look on her face.

"What's so funny?" his sister asked him irritably.

"I'm sorry, but you deserve that," Sokka chuckled. To Aang, he said, "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."

Cody nodded. "You know, Sokka...you're right."

Katara looked guilty, but she said, "No, it's not that, you two! Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip!"

So she tried again, but the whip behaves fitfully and accidentally zapped Momo from behind, who screeched at her in protest. Cody walked up to them, wincing; this wasn't turning out to be a good lesson after all. He guessed she was paying for stealing the scroll.

"Why...can't...I...get this...stupid move!" Katara was hissing, trying unsuccessfully to get it right. Hearing the anger in her voice made Cody shy away, having never seen her get so angry like this before. In fact, he had never seen her look angry before; he had seen her get a bit miffed...but not this. Not before.

Aang walked over to the river beside her, saying soothingly, "You'll get it."

Far from comforting her, though, Katara looked displeased at this statement, clearly expecting Aang to show her up once again. Then Aang started making the water whip correctly on the first try, gracefully Bending the whip before dropping it back into the river. Cody saw that Katara was trying to keep her anger in control...but she couldn't take it any longer.

"You just gotta shift your weight through the stances..." He once again gracefully Bended the whip for just a few more seconds and then dropped it back into the river."There. See, the key to Bending is..."

Then suddenly...she snapped.

"Will you PLEASE shut your air hole?!" she finally roared, sticking her face in front of Aang's face. "Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes! Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so _naturally gifted_?!"

Cody saw Aang cringe, knowing the pain and shame of being yelled at. So he stepped forth and started, "Katara, stop. What does it matter that he's gifted? He's the Avatar, and you should-"

But Katara whirled on him furiously, snarling, "Don't you dare start on me either, Cody! Why don't you join Aang in being stupid unbearable know-it-alls?!" But just as she finished, Sokka was gazing at her in disapproval, making her ask, "What?"

She looked at Aang, who looked frightened and looked on the verge of tears. Cody was beside the Avatar, trembling and trying not to cry at her harshness. Not only that, but she called him stupid. Katara...his human friend...had just called him stupid, a word he didn't like being thrown at him. Totodile was giving them concerned looks before giving Katara a glare of both defiance and disapproval as if to say "What is wrong with you?!" And just then, her face softened into a mix of guilt and shame.

"Oh my gosh, Aang, I'm _so_ sorry," she rasped, sounding totally ashamed now. "I don't know what came over me. And Cody-"

"No," Totodile growled, his eyes glittering angrily. And before she could speak to Cody, the Big Jaw Pokémon added harshly, his voice shaking, "You called Cody stupid, and he hates that, and _you_ remember us saying that. Yet you called my own friend...my own _best friend_...stupid. No one EVER calls him that. I can forgive lots of folks...but what you said is unforgivable."

Katara looked even guiltier, but she said, "Still...I'm sorry to the both of you. But...you know what? It won't happen again." She rolled up the scroll and handed it to Aang, saying, "Here, this is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore. Again, I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, Katara," Aang told her with a weak smile.

Cody, however, didn't say anything. He looked to the side, not wanting to look Katara in the face right now, not after she had yelled at him like that. The young Pikachu cursed himself for being so weak in front of her, recalling of how he had reacted in his first-ever rescue mission. He did not want to go through that again.

"What about Momo?" Sokka's voice made them turn around to see Momo rubbing his sore bottom. "He's the real victim here."

Katara walked over to the lemur and rubbed his ears gently. "I'm sorry, Momo."

Then, with a sly look, Sokka added, "And...what about me? There was that time you-"

"_No more apologies,_" she snapped less angrily than before. To Cody, who was still trembling with shame and fear, she said, "Cody, I didn't mean to call you stupid. I-Is there anything I can do to make up with you?"

But Totodile gave her an icy and calm glare, muttering stoically, "You've done enough."

**...**

The prow of the ship opened and deployed a small cutter craft that steamed away. Absol was in there, waiting for the time to pounce, along with several Machoke. He could recall all that Zuko and the Captain talked about in their deal.

"Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" the Captain asked.

"The woods! The woods!" Chatot squawked from his other shoulder.

Zuko looked slightly irritated at this, but he went on coolly, "We don't need to stop. They stole a WaterBending scroll, right?"

The Captain nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Then they'll be on the water."

_And we'll be closer to our goal, _Absol realized, not paying attention to the wine the Machoke had brought along.

**...**

The rest of the day had gone on rather quietly. Aang was still a bit shaken about Katara screeching at him, yet he seemed to recover quickly. Cody, however, did not. He would not speak to Katara at all after what she said; in fact, he would push away the dinner she had made that evening, saying he wasn't hungry. Totodile felt even more bad for his best friend and even angrier at Katara.

But what she was going to do that night would send him over the edge.

A shuffling noise woke Totodile up, making him mutter "Is that you, Grandma?" and sit up to see the camp, fire still blazing. The boys and Cody were asleep, but Katara was getting up and silently removing the scroll from Aang's bag. She backed guiltily away from the camp, turning around only to be confronted by Momo's luminescent green eyes. Momo was sitting on some sort of tree trunk as he chittered at her.

_I think I know what she's up to, _Totodile muttered to himself.

"Shh!" Katara hissed quietly. "Momo, go back to sleep."

She walked by as the lemur chittered again, but she shushed him once more. However, Totodile got up from his spot and quickly raced over to stand in front of her, glaring at her. This was how she repaid Aang and Cody after yelling at them...by stealing the scroll again.

"So...out for a midnight stroll, huh?" Totodile growled, glaring up at her. Even though she was taller than him, he was not afraid of any foe of any size. "With a certain scroll. Care to explain that..._buddy_?" he added with heavy emphasis on the word.

Katara looked a bit ashamed, but she looked back down at him with determination. "I was just going to try this move again. And after that...I'll be done with it."

Totodile snorted. "Yeah, and Grumpig will fly. Look, Katara, I really don't wanna sound like guilt-tripping characters in some cartoons, but...don't do it. Something bad might happen."

"I know what you're trying to do, Totodile, but don't try and stop me," Katara said, walking past him. "I have to learn these moves quickly."

"Fine!" Totodile spat after her. "Go out and get eaten by a crocodile or something! I don't care! You know what? You're a dime a dozen! I've seen girls that're more honest and true than you! And don't come crying to me if it all goes wrong!"

But as soon as he said that, he felt guilty right away. Katara had looked back at him, her eyes hurt and shocked at what he had said. Yet when Totodile tried to apologize, the hurt look on her face was replaced by anger and resolution before she spun around and stalked off. When she was gone, he raised a hand and smacked his head hard with it.

_You idiot! _he cursed at himself. _You cursed at Cody's friend...wait, I'M his friend! Still...I shouldn't leave her alone._

So he brushed his hands off before jogging into the woods, trying to search for Katara to keep an eye on her. But he heard a familiar someone snap "Shoot! Come on water, work with me here!"

Totodile saw a globe of water rising out of the river and falling back in, followed by a verbal exclamation of "okay", "stupid!" or something else. He was now so close enough to hear this noise and finally found Katara. The fourteen-year-old WaterBender was wielding a stream of water, trying to manipulate the water.

"Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances..." she was muttering. Then a loud "...ugh!" told him that she got the move wrong again.

Suddenly, Totodile heard the noise of grinding metal and ran over to a row of bushes on his left. He felt his heart stop in his chest when he saw Zuko's cutter craft now beached on the river bank. Not far away, Katara started to run from the bush, but there stood a pirate, who quickly grabbed her like a fly in a Venus flytrap.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, Bending a water whip and smacking the pirate in the face. Totodile was impressed now; she had used the move correctly this time...and she didn't have to be in a practice session to do it.

The pirate let her go, and Katara was just about to make a run for it. But Totodile's relief turned to shock when she ran right into Zuko's arms, who held her fast. Totodile felt like getting out there and rescuing the Water Tribe girl, but remembering their argument...she might not thank him for doing so.

"I'll save you from the pirates," the banished prince hissed into her ear, sounding like a stalker.

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

_What have I done?_

Totodile poked his snout out of the bushes a bit to see what had gone on. Katara had been captured by the pirates and tied to the trunk of a small tree, her hands behind the trunk. Zuko, the pirates, and the Pokémon were surrounding her to make sure she didn't get away. Totodile reeled back to think over what he had done...or what he could have done.

He felt even worse, hiding in the bushes like a coward instead of leaping into action. Sokka would not take kindly of him doing that...but what else was there to do?

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother," Zuko was saying, making Totodile turn back around.

"Go jump in the river!" Katara spat in his face.

Totodile was afraid Zuko would slap her across the face for that. Instead, what he said next made him sound like he was trying to be sensible. "Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange...I can restore something you've lost."

He moved over behind her, and Totodile was afraid he would slit her throat. Then suddenly, he saw a flash of blue and silver appear around Katara's neck. A closer look told him that it was her necklace; he remembered Cody telling him how she was upset about losing it. Katara had a look of shock on her face while Zuko drew back with the necklace.

"My mother's necklace!" she gasped. "How did you get that?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering," Zuko told her. "Tell me where he is."

But all she said was "No!"

"Enough of this necklace garbage," the Captain barked, stepping forward. "You promised the scroll!"

"I wonder how much money this is worth?" Zuko retorted, pulling the scroll out and making fire in his hand under it. Seeing the pirates gasp and some crying "no!", he smirked and said, "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

The Captain looked sullen, but all he muttered was "Fine."

"And if that doesn't happen, we'll kill the girl here," Floatzel sneered with a nasty chuckle.

Totodile felt his mind shut down for a second. Had these Pokémon really thought of killing Katara if they didn't get what they want? Apparently, Katara had not thought of this either, for her eyes widened with shock again before she looked a bit scared and sad. She was a friend to Rescue Team Avatar, and he did not want her to die hearing the awful words he said to her.

_Please... _She appeared to be whispering to no one. _Please help me..._

_Okay, that does it! _Totodile thought angrily. _No one's hurting a friend of mine and getting away with it! And who cares if she yelled at Cody? I would...but she's a friend!_

"Oh HECK no! You're not gonna lay a hand or paw against her!" Totodile roared as he launched himself out of the bush.

He was standing before many foes at once, not knowing how to beat them all at once. Zuko and the pirates were looking at them with shock, and Totodile wanted to make them pay. But there was no time, for Floatzel glared around at Katara and stalked over towards her.

Quickly, Totodile leapt at the Sea Weasel Pokémon and bit down hard onto its head, making it squeal with pain and anger. A Machoke had grabbed hold of his body and pulled him off the Floatzel, but he turned around quickly and fired a Water Gun to the face. The Fighting type groaned and fell back as the other Machoke ran forth to help him.

But just when Totodile smirked at this victory, he felt a Pokémon barrel into him and shove him away. As Totodile got to his feet in time, he had felt metal under his feet and saw a metal gate swing shut in front of him. He ran over to the gate, trying to gnaw his way through and get at his foes to teach them a lesson.

"Totodile?" Katara asked with surprise. "What're you doing here?"

The Big Jaw Pokémon looked at her. "Savin' you! What does it look like?" He paused a bit to think of how to get out before saying, "Looks like this might take a while."

Katara nodded sadly. "Yes...I suppose so. And...I'm so sorry, Totodile. This is all my fault."

"I don't wanna say 'I told you so', so...that's okay," Totodile said with a small smile. He gave a sad sigh too and sat down, adding, "But now...let's just wait."

**...**

Cody gave a mighty yawn and stretched like a cat as he got up the next morning. He felt better after what had happened yesterday...but he still felt a bit sad. Despite not having spoken to Katara after what she said, he did not want to hold a grudge. He would wake her up, and they could hang out together to make up.

But as he rolled around, he saw that her sleeping mat was empty. Apparently, Sokka had seen it too, for he was also starting to wake up.

"Huh? Where did she go?" Noticing Aang's bag near Katara's sleeping mat, he reached over and dug into it. Then he let out a slight curse and hissed, "I don't believe it."

"What's wrong?" Aang yawned, just waking up.

"She took the scroll!" Sokka hissed as Cody muttered "I knew it." "She's obsessed with that thing! It's just a matter of time before she gets us all in deep-"

But he was cut off when his hands suddenly got wrapped in a sling thrown from out of nowhere. He was pulled right off his sleeping bag, screaming as he landed on the ground and was faced by a pirate, who threw another sling at him. The Water Tribe teen rolled out of the way, picked up his spear, and charged at the intruder. Cody got to his paw right away; the pirates and their Machoke must have tracked them through the forest.

Aang, meanwhile, turned to see a huge beefy pirate hoisting two bows with a net tied between them. He aimed and fired, and Aang fired an air ball at the approaching net, but the air just passed right through it. The net rolled him up into a bundle, and he was thrown back onto the ground, where another pirate began dragging him away.

With a snarl, Cody fired a Thunderbolt at a Machoke, but it held up its hands and somehow absorbed the electricity. Cody was shocked at this, but the Machoke quickly attacked him with a Thunderpunch, blasting him back. And as if that wasn't enough, he had tumbled into a cage, where he was quickly locked up.

"I got him!" a pirate roared. "Come on!"

"And I got the Pikachu!" another Machoke cheered. And at that, they all started to walk away, the rough walking rattling Cody in the cage.

Sokka was left behind, griping, "Aw, what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?!"

But then he was answered by another net capturing him and a pirate dragging him away.

A few minutes later, Cody saw their destination. It was an area next to the river, Prince Zuko, his Absol, and the pirates and their Pokémon by there. To Cody's surprise, Katara and Totodile were there, tied to a tree and locked in a cage respectively. Zuko was holding out the scroll that Katara took from the pirates; he must have been helping them.

"Nice work," the prince remarked as the pirates shoved their new prisoners forward. Cody had his cage thrown down to the ground, making him bump his head against the top.

Katara looked over at Aang sadly. "Aang, this is all my fault."

Aang shook his head. "No, Katara, it isn't."

"Yeah, it kind of is," Iroh added sheepishly, he and Torkoal standing beside Katara. The Water Tribe girl gave the old man a strange look in return.

Cody kept trying to circle around in his cage, trying to find a way out of there. So far, it looked like the toughest metal was used to make this cage; not even rocks could crush it. But he sat down in time to hear Zuko and the Captain of the pirates arguing.

"Give me the boy," Zuko was growling.

"_You_ give us the scroll," the Captain barked back.

"Give it back! Give it back!" the Chatot on his shoulder squawked.

Then, before some more arguing popped up, Sokka suddenly exclaimed, "You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?"

Hearing this, Zuko pointed at him and told the soldiers, "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!"

_Is that so? _Cody thought with amazement. Seeing the soldiers and pirates eyeing each other suspiciously, he thought, _I think it's working so far._

The Pirate Captain held up a hand of silence before waving his hand towards Aang. "Your friend is the Avatar?"

"Sure is," Sokka said, somehow appearing at his side. "And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll."

"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko snarled in hate.

Aang was nodding, adding quietly, "Yeah, Sokka, you really _should_ shut your mouth."

"Ix-nay on the arket-may," Totodile added quietly.

But Sokka didn't listen to all of that. He looked "innocently" at the very interested pirates and said, "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

The effect of those words had caused everyone to settle down and think this over. The Machoke who were flexing their muscles stopped posing and looked back at their masters. Absol sat as still as a stone, his red eyes narrowing until they were slits. Cody looked in between the two bad groups, wondering what they were going to do next. Then finally, after a few more minutes of thinking, the Captain spoke.

"Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."

At this, some Machoke picked up the cages that were holding Cody and Totodile prisoner while the pirates pushed Aang and Sokka towards the trees. But just when they approached Katara to untie her and possibly gag her, Zuko let out a snarl, making them turn around.

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" Zuko roared.

He, the guards on either side of him, and Absol unleashed a torrent of flame, which bathed the ground underneath the pirates, who jumped out the way. General melee began right away.

The pirate salesman jumped into the midst of the FireBenders with a battle cry. Zuko and his men and their Rhyhorn bore down on the still bound Aang and Sokka, but as they got near, four pirates jumped into the fight to defend their captives. They dropped many smoke bombs, and the battlefield instantly became a foggy mess, as foggy as the Foggy Forest. The remaining Fire Nation soldiers approached the edge of the crowd and were instantly pulled in by the arms of pirates emerging from the smoke.

Cody and Totodile recoiled when the four Machoke came over to knock them out, but the Rhyhorn barreled into them, knocking them off their feet and making them drop the cages. Once the cages fell, they broke and released the two Pokémon, who used a Thunderbolt and Water Gun mix to blast them away.

Meanwhile, Momo was climbing down the trunk Katara was tied to and began to chew on the rope tying her there. Cody quickly ran over to assist the lemur, chewing the best he could until the Water Tribe girl was free.

Once Katara was free from her bonds, she told Momo with a smile, "Thanks, Momo. I owe you a bushel of apples. And Cody..." she added with a shamed face. "I'll owe you something since I called you...well..."

"It's okay," Cody told her, silencing her with a flick of his lightning-shaped tail. "Now come on, let's go!"

But just then, they were suddenly blocked by the same Floatzel that had threatened to kill her the night before; Totodile had told him about this Pokémon. Just when Floatzel was about to pounce at her, however, a brown flash appeared and shoved him away, making him crash into the same tree. Cody and Katara stopped when they saw the new Pokémon standing in front of them, a beaver-like creature with a red-and-yellow bandana around its neck.

"Thanks for that," Katara told it gratefully. "Who are you?"

"Bibarel's the name!" the Pokémon said. It had a southern female voice as it went on, "And them pirates're as bad as a bad rash! Now let's kick some skulls!"

Cody said, "Wait. We heard a female voice saying yesterday that her remark was as funny as a card trick. Was that you?"

Bibarel nodded while slamming her flat tail down onto a reviving Floatzel. "Yep. It was funny. Now let's go get that boat in the river!" At this, she ran over towards the boat and began to push at it with her shoulders. Katara and Totodile joined her, but Cody ran into the smoke to see if Aang and Sokka were okay.

Aang was running through the smoke, coughing and his hands still bound. Near misses with a throwing star and a spear slashed at his bonds, freeing him. Meanwhile, Zuko had just avoided a very fast sword stroke and assumed a FireBending stance before meeting the Captain's sword with a fiery fist, but no one gained advantage. A pirate used a hook to remove the scroll from Zuko's waistband, but Momo seized it as it returned to the pirate and took the scroll, flying off.

But Momo in turn was pursued by the Pirate Captain's green parrot, which tackled him in mid-air while Chatot flew above him, cawing annoyingly. The lemur dropped the scroll, and it fell back down into the smoke filled battlefield, jets of flame erupting from it at various points. Cody saw Absol grab the scroll in his jaws before he darted forth and slammed an Iron Tail on his head. The Disaster Pokémon hissed in pain before recognizing him and sending a Razor Wind at him. The Pikachu felt the cutting winds cut his cheeks before zapping a Thunderbolt through the smoke at him before darting forth and grabbing the scroll.

_Well, that's down, _Cody thought, ignoring the sting in his left cheek and blood dripping down to his paws. _Gotta find the others._

"Aang, are you there?!" Sokka was shouting.

Cody saw Aang jump over the smoke and call "I'm over here! Follow my voice!"

"Where?! I can't find you!"

"I'm right here!"

Cody then saw all the smoke blowing away until the battlefield was exposed. A mix of Fire Nation soldiers and pirates in combat had frozen and looked at him confusingly. Two of the five Machoke were knocked out by Absol and Torkoal before Cody saw Torkoal pinning Absol down with a foot to prevent any more fighting. And Aang was in the middle, clearly seeing his mistake before closing the smoke back up around them.

Then he shouted, "Uh...never mind! I'll find you!"

He saw the Avatar leap over the smoke then and land on the other side before Cody rushed into the smoke too. Sokka had been freed and hit an attacking Machoke on the head before making a run for it with Aang and Cody. They made it back to Katara, Totodile, and Bibarel, who were trying to push the pirate ship off the shore.

"Katara! You're okay!" Aang exclaimed in relief. Noticing Bibarel, he asked, "Who's that?"

"She's Bibarel, and she helped us out," Katara explained quickly. "Now help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here!"

So all six of them began to push on the boat, but nothing happened. Totodile even tried pushing with all his might until his feet were almost buried in the sand. Panting, he pulled himself out as they stopped and looked up at the prow.

"Dagnabit!" Bibarel grunted, stopping. "It's as heavy as a rock!"

Sokka nodded. "We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship."

Aang added, "A team of rhinos...or two WaterBenders." He shared a look with Katara at this, the latter giving him a genuine smile.

Cody also felt a smile at this, feeling that whatever bad things they had between them, it was all over. He watched as Aang and Katara began pulling the river water back and forth up the shore, slowly raising the water level around the prow. Bibarel gave the ship a shoulder shove, and the ship got into the water, finally floating.

"Everybody in!"

So they all jumped on, and Bibarel slammed her tail down on the water to boost them up before she climbed up. They looked back to see Zuko and the Captain fighting still while Absol was trying to snatch Chatot out of the air with Razor Wind. Chatot kept dodging each blow and gave him a barrage of beak jabs, making Absol snarl even worse.

But just as the two groups continued fighting, Iroh and Torkoal suddenly jumped in between them and broke up the fights. Cody heard Torkoal wailing about something about the arguing breaking them apart, but he heard Iroh's voice clearly.

"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?!" the elder was scolding.

"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko was shouting.

"It's no proverb." And Cody saw that Iroh was pointing over towards their ship, for he ducked quickly out of sight.

The Captain turned quickly and shouted "Bleeding hog-monkeys!" before running over to his pirates. What he said made Cody snort with laughter, and apparently, Zuko also found it funny due to the laughing he made. But then, he saw the pirates following them in Zuko's ship, one pirate moving to moon the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko roared, having noticed them and running beside the shore. He was followed by Absol, Torkoal, and Iroh, the last one muttering, "Maybe it _should_ be a proverb."

Cody looked away to see if they noticed any of the pirates chasing them. Aang seemed to have noticed them, for he called over his shoulder, "Sokka! Can't you make it go any faster?!"

"I don't know how," Sokka replied, steering the wheel of the ship his hardest while Bibarel stood guard. "This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe."

The pirates were passing them, but Cody saw them begin jumping onto their ship as soon as they were parallel from them. He joined Katara up on the aft deck as he stood between her and two pirates and their Machoke. As he felt his fur bristle with electricity, Aang, who was on top of the cabin, WaterBended a huge wave onto the deck that washed one of the pirates overboard. Katara, looking afraid at first but then gaining confidence and determination, created a water whip and smacked the other one overboard while Cody zapped the Machoke away with Thunderbolt.

"Hey, you did the water whip!" Aang called.

Katara smiled over at him. "I couldn't have done it without your help!"

Cody smiled up at them. "Great job!" He was happy for his human friend for getting the move right...and for not being jealous anymore. Any fear he felt for her faded away and back into great fondness while he leapt onto her shoulder.

"Will you two quit congratulating each other and help me and Totodile out!" Sokka called from the bridge. He and Totodile were facing against the pirate barker, a beefy pirate, a Machoke, and the barker's Floatzel.

Momo flew over their heads at this point, closely pursued by the Captain's reptile bird. The chase ended with Momo trapping the parrot by wrapping it in the vessel's black flag, and the Captain's Chatot got beaten by being smacked overboard by Bibarel's tail. But Sokka was being held aloft by the beefy pirate, giving a cry as the pirate threw him into the sail in front of him. Sokka fell with a thud to the deck below while Totodile was thrown hard to the floor by a Machoke using a choke slam.

"That's good!" the pirate barker called.

Aang quickly flew in and threw the barker through the guard rail and off the ship with a huge blast of air. He twirled the beefy pirate around on a whirlwind of air for just a minute before ejecting him high into the air. As the beefy pirate landed in the water, Cody shot a Thunderbolt at the Machoke and Floatzel before using Quick Attack to shove Machoke off the ship. He was padding over to Totodile to check on him before he heard a familiar voice.

"Aang, look!"

The sound of falling water reached Cody's ears as he heard Katara call for the Avatar. He ran over to the front of the ship and gasped: they were rapidly approaching a large waterfall. They were going to crash at the bottom; he just knew it! Just in time, he saw the pirate barker walk up to behind Aang, drawing a blade from his pocket.

"Oh no!" Aang rasped. He wasn't looking at the pirate; he was looking over at the waterfall.

Cody let out a growl as the barker drew nearer, and Aang turned to face him and drew out his bison whistle in response. He blew the whistle furiously to no seeming effect, and the pirate barker looked unimpressed in return. Just as he was about to attack alongside his Floatzel, he was quickly round-kicked overboard by Sokka, who has just arrived from the right. And the Floatzel was shoved overboard by Totodile, whose Aqua Tail shoved it away.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Sokka snapped at Aang, swiping the whistle away. "This is no time for flute practice!"

Totodile nodded. "You know, it's not too late to get a refund for that whistle."

They all looked over the starboard railing at the rapidly approaching waterfall. The prow was almost at the lip of the fall, making Cody start to shiver at the thought of falling over. But just as he thought of this, Katara straightened up, a resolute look on her face.

"We can stop the boat!" she cried. Then she called out the orders, "Aang, together, push and pull the water! Totodile and Bibarel, use any Water type moves to help us slow the boat down!"

So the two stood on the foredeck WaterBending in unison, making pushing and pulling motions. From the rocking of the boat under Cody's paws, it was now turning around right at the lip of the fall. Totodile was using the best Water Gun he could use while Bibarel had a water sphere being formed between her paws before firing a blast of water towards the waterfall.

Seeing this, Katara called, "It's working! It's slowing down!"

"Yeah!" Totodile stopped to cheer. He gave a yelp when he saw he stopped using Water Gun and fired another one towards the falls.

_It sure is, _Cody thought, looking back to see Aang and Katara Bending, the ship now at a ninety degree angle to the lip of the fall and was motionless. Bibarel kept firing one Water Pulse after another towards the falls to keep the boat in place.

"We're doing it!" Katara shouted after some more pushing and pulling.

"But we have another problem!" Sokka called as soon as Totodile and Bibarel halted their Water type moves.

The cutter boat was bearing down on the pirate ship as it hovered at the lip of the fall, ramming it the amidships. The three kids and three Pokémon gave a shout of "whoa!" at the impact, which lifted the starboard side of the pirate ship out of the water and, consequently, making the ship list badly to port. In fact, the list rapidly became so bad that the six of them fell off the ship and over the falls, the pirate ship falling behind them.

Cody quickly moved over to Katara, clinging to her chest and praying for the end to come already. But just then, he felt her land on something soft and looked down. Appa had swooped in and let them land on his back, leaving just in time to avoid the falling pirate ship. The pirate ship disintegrated when it hit the bottom in a cloud of water and debris. Appa and the kids swoop out of the scene.

"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy," Aang said happily, holding up the bison whistle. To the flying bison, he added, "Thanks, Appa."

"Yeah..." Sokka panted, sounding out of breath. "...we owe ya one..."

Totodile's face was now excited while Appa grunted. "You know what, Aang? Screw getting a refund for the bison whistle! Keep the little guy!"

**...**

"My boat!"

Absol caught up with Zuko, looking down to where their ship had fallen down. A mighty crash at the bottom of the waterfall told him that it must have crashed, leaving...not a good mess to clean up. He hoped to not see any anger and shock on his master's face, yet it was written all over Zuko's scarred face, his lips curling into a snarl. On the outside, Absol puffed out his chest and stared down impressively at the mess below, but on the inside...he would rather not explore there right away.

Iroh finally caught his breath and gave a small chuckle, saying, "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" At this, he pulled out the missing lotus tile from his sleeve with a huge smile on his face.

"Hehe..." Torkoal wheezed from the running. "I had no idea it was there, my old friend! What an adventure today!"

_Wait...we went all that trouble...just for the geezers to do THAT?! _Absol thought with rage.

To his right, Zuko was trying to control his breathing and his temper, but it was being barely held in anymore. The lotus piece in Iroh's hand disappeared as fast as lightning when his nephew snatched it from him and threw it as far as he could away from them. Absol ignored the shocked look on Iroh's face as he heard a small thud, which meant that the piece must have hit something quite hard.

_I hope it was a pirate's skull, _he thought, turning around and kicking dirt over the ledge. _I'm never working with another pirate for as long as I live!_

**...**

Cody was now happy that they had packed up the night before. Despite Appa diving down many lengths to come and fetch them, they had tightened the bags so down that they did not fall out of the saddle. Just as he pulled out an animal book and started reading, he saw Katara walk over to Aang, a look of regret on her face. He put the book down and walked over, wanting to see what was going to happen.

"Aang, I still owe you an apology," Katara murmured to her friend, kneeling down and staring at nothing. "You were just so good at WaterBending without really trying. I got so competitive that...I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."

The Avatar gave her a smile. "That's okay, Katara."

"And I'm sorry for what I said to you last night, Katara," Totodile said, hanging his head. "That was really offensive of me to say, and I just wanna bury the hatchet. You're one in a million."

The Water Tribe girl smiled down at the Big Jaw Pokémon while Cody leapt into her lap. "I forgive you, Totodile. Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway?"

"Is that really how you feel?" Sokka asked with a smirk, holding out the scroll in his hand. Cody did a double-take at the scroll in the Water Tribe teen's hand, wondering how he got it in the middle of all that fighting.

"The scroll!" Katara gasped, reaching for it.

But her brother pulled it away and stopped her with his other hand, saying seriously, "First, what did you learn?"

Katara had a mild serious look on her face as she replied, "Stealing is wrong...unless it's from pirates!" she added, taking the scroll with a playful smile on her face.

Cody and Aang laughed at this as the latter exclaimed, "Good one, Katara!"

"Well, I'll be!" Bibarel cheered, her smile bright. "_That's_ even better than a magic card trick!"

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat12: At last we got this done! There are some references in here from Sly Cooper 2 and other media, which I don't own and give all credit to their creators. And look at that! We got a new Pokémon on the team!**

**I have nothing else to say at the moment, so I'll go with the review thing and the preview for Jet. So...read and review folks! I do NOT allow flames on here or else they'll be used for flames. I DO allow advice and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh. One more thing, if you're wondering how come the Fire Nation has Fighting types or other types, I'm just mixing it along.**

**Preview: The group stop in the woods for a bit and are attacked by FireBenders, only to be rescued by a guerilla teenager and his pack of freedom fighters. Aang, Katara, and Cody seem to like this guy, but Bibarel seems suspicious, and Sokka and Totodile don't trust him one bit. What secret is this person hiding?**

**See ya next time!**


	15. Jet

**AvatarCat13: Hey everyone! Sorry about not uploading as soon as possible. I know I've kept saying that I kept procrastinating...and that's partly true. I've got some other stories to write...but I don't intend to fail you guys.**

**Well, I've been busy for the most part, and I didn't want to neglect this story. Not at all. I had to finish my Kataang Island Adventure and get anything on World Of Warcraft out of the way for the time being. That, and I've tried keeping an eye on our dogs for the past few months...and I'm starting to get bored to death. That's another reason why I couldn't upload this story fast enough: boredom.**

**So anyways, here's the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Satoshi Tajiri are the true owners of Avatar: The Last AirBender and Pokémon, not me. If I owned those two (and I don't want to own them), I'd be on a shopping spree at Beverly Hills!**

**Summary: ****The group stop in the woods for a bit and are attacked by FireBenders, only to be rescued by a guerilla teenager and his pack of freedom fighters. Aang, Katara, and Cody seem to like this guy, but Bibarel seems suspicious, and Sokka and Totodile don't trust him one bit. What secret is this person hiding?**

**Uploading Date: May 26, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**Jet**_

After the escape from the pirates, everyone had decided on taking a break from travel. Totodile saw that Bibarel was fitting in quite well with the team, telling stories of how she and a Rattata friend of hers were almost eaten by a Rhydon when she was young. It was nice to have a new Pokémon come along with them; it had been a while since a new Pokémon joined the team.

Right now, everyone was getting ready to settle down. Cody was sitting in Katara's lap and telling her about his and Totodile's adventures, and Sokka was teaching Totodile how to track footprints in the ground. Bibarel was leaning back against a tree, chewing calmly on a twig as if nothing was wrong with the world. But Aang was the only one still un-relaxed; he was looking around as if he was looking for something.

"Where's Momo?" he asked.

"No idea, kid," Bibarel said, shrugging as she finished her twig snack. "Haven't seen the cute lil' critter since we got to this spot."

Totodile gave a small shrug too and looked back to the ground. Just before they could move, Momo's yowl echoed through the forest, a screech of distress. They looked around, trying to tell where the call came from. Cody leapt out of Katara's lap and ran towards the deeper part of the forest, his nose in the air to sniff out the lemur's scent. Deciding to go after him and make sure he was safe, Totodile ran off after him.

The members of Rescue Team Avatar had arrived in the middle of a clearing to see plenty of dangling snares, looking up from ground level. Lots of animal noises rang through Totodile's ears, and he supposed from the hooting noises that hog monkeys were in there. Aang wandered in, drawn by the urgent calls, and he looked up in stress at a captured Momo. It appeared that the lemur had fallen into a trap due to food; traps could do that to animals.

"Hang on, Momo!" Aang called. And with a sweep of his arms, he began to AirBend to leap, climbing to Momo's height by rebounding up off close-by tree trunks.

"I wanna help!" Totodile called. At this, he fired a Water Gun to the ground and propelled himself to one of the tall branches above their heads.

They arrived at a tree branch extending out of a main part of the tree. Attached to the trunk was a small winch. A rope entered the winch from lower on the trunk away from them, and then it went on its way up to an eye loop bolt attached to the underside of the branch, before hanging down. Aang ascended from the ground and then flipped over the branch and dangled beneath it like an acrobat on a trapeze.

He grabbed the rope, released a latch on the winch, and carefully fed more line. Totodile leapt onto the small cage and started gnawing on it to try and loosen the bonds capturing the lemur. On the ground, Sokka and Katara eased the snare down to the ground between them and, together with Cody, pulled the squeaky slats apart enough to make an exit. Momo immediately hopped out and ran off to finish a handful of the nuts, his peril forgotten. Sokka and Katara released the snare, and Sokka groaned and slapped his forehead at the lack of gratitude.

"He's kinda like a cat," Cody remarked with a small smile. "They only show gratitude whenever they want."

Aang jumped down from above just in time and looked up. Totodile had joined him and looked right up, watching the hog monkeys in them as they were moaning pleadingly. The traps were suspended near each other on a different branch. It appeared that they were in need of some rescuing too, for what would they be if they left an animal in a trap and didn't do something?

"All right," Aang said with an amused sigh. "You too."

The Avatar crouched low and then sprang up in a spiraling column of AirBended wind that now carried him up to the tree branches. But Sokka was already reaching behind him and pulling out his boomerang, muttering "This is gonna take forever" and threw it in one fluid movement.

With a whiz, it zipped up into the air like a hyper Zubat. Just below the branch, the ropes came from opposite directions, but they paralleled each other as they hung down from curved staples. With another whiz, the boomerang sliced through the air as quick as a claw and cut both ropes in the process. The ropes fell away, and the forest was filled with the sounds of loud crashing and panicked beast barking.

Aang was now hanging below the branch and hugging it as he inched over to the first staple. He pauses to look upside-down at the ground below and mumbled, "That works..."

"Think about it!" Cody called up to him. "I think the boomerang was a bit faster than the air. No offense."

"None taken," Aang replied with a carefree smile.

On the ground, Cody and Bibarel freed the hog monkeys, their cages like open clamshells. They walked on all fours as one disappeared between the framing trees and the other climbed up the tree framing the left and soon as the animals vanished, Sokka approached one of the busted snares and kneeled to examine it, and Totodile (who was leaping down to the ground) guessed he was studying who or what made this. Aang made it back to the ground by skidding down the trunk and root of a tree.

Finally, Sokka looked up. "These are Fire Nation traps; you can tell from the metalwork. We'd better pack up camp and get moving."

Bibarel nodded sagely. "Couldn't've said it better myself, partner. I thought I'd find something suspicious about them woods."

"Yep," Sokka replied. "Time to hit the road."

"Can we sing 'On The Road Again?'" Totodile asked. Seeing the confused looks, he added, "I'll just hum it like from Shrek."

**...**

Totodile insisted Sokka in pulling tight the bindings on a roll of gear. Cut to the clearing from over Aang's shoulder. Katara was handing a gear roll up to Aang, who was sitting on Appa's head, and Cody was busy packing up his animal book. And Bibarel didn't have much to do, for she was nodding to the others with a commenting grunt, a wheat stalk in her mouth.

Just then, Sokka left his roll (and Totodile with the work) and walked over to Aang and Appa, saying,"Uh-uh...no flying this time."

"What?" Katara yelped with shock.

Aang handed the roll to Sokka, asking, "Why wouldn't we fly?

"Think about it," Sokka said, catching the roll and laying it down. "Somehow, Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa...he's just too noticeable."

Katara protested again, "What?! Appa's not too noticeable!"

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head," Sokka retorted. "It's kinda hard to miss him!"

Cody nodded. "Yeah. He's like an albino kangaroo among its own group."

Appa turned his head and groaned at the two of them. Aang was in the 'driver's seat' holding his reigns, saying to Appa gently, "They're just jealous 'cause they don't have arrows."

"This fella's got a point," Bibarel said, slapping her flat tail on the ground towards Sokka's direction. "Personally, I think it's best to walk on good ol' Mama Earth."

Sokka spoke up, "I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked in disbelief.

"I'm not the boss; I'm the leader," Sokka insisted.

Katara looked incredulous as she scoffed, "_You're_ the leader? But your voice still cracks!"

Sokka protested, his voice somehow sounding high, "I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior. So..." This time, he tried to sound older. "I'm the leader!"

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang," Katara replied. Turning to Aang with a smile on her face, she went on, "I mean, he IS the Avatar."

"And Cody," Totodile added. "He's a rescue team leader!"

"Huh?" Cody asked, looking over the side of the saddle.

Sokka was now ranting about Aang, "Are you kidding? He's just a goofy kid! And Cody's always getting distracted by stuff!"

Aang was dangling from Appa's horn upside-down by his hands, his legs sticking out into space. Appa looked rather unimpressed while Aang said with a shrug, "He's right."

"Right about what?" Cody asked. "What're you talking about?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Nothing, Cody. Anyways, why do boys always think someone has to be the leader? I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl."

"I-I've kissed a girl," Sokka retorted, looking nervous. "You...just haven't met her."

_Is he talking about Suki? _Totodile wondered, recalling the Kyoshi warrior.

"Who? Gran Gran?" Katara asked Sokka, a teasing look on her face. "I've met Gran Gran."

Sokka growled, "No, besides Gran Gran." He gave a sigh and said, "Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts."

At this, Katara replied sarcastically, "Okay, we'll try it your way, Oh _Wise Leader_."

"Hey, you never know," Totodile said, feeling defensive for Sokka now. "Why're you not trusting him now? He's your brother, for Pete's sake."

"And like I said before, his voice still cracks!" the Water Tribe girl countered.

Totodile rolled his eyes now. "Know what? Just forget it. Forget I ever asked that."

"It's fine," Aang said, stepping over and now wearing a backpack with Momo on the top. "Who knows? Walking might be fun!"

**...**

"Walking stinks!" Aang grumbled as they trudged between the trees. It had been nearly an hour since they left camp, and the sun was going to set soon. "How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"The rest o' the world also use a Flyin' type Pokémon," Bibarel told him. "In fact, one of my best pals is a Honchkrow. She can fly ya'll anywhere!"

But Aang grumbled, "But besides that, Bibarel! How can they?"

"I don't know Aang," Katara told him. Then she aimed a scornful taunt towards Sokka, saying, "Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts? They seem to know everything."

"Ha ha," Sokka merely replied. "Very funny."

"Yeah," Totodile grumbled. "I forgot how to laugh."

But Cody and Bibarel did not say a word.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack," Aang whined on.

Katara went on with her biting remarks, "You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's Instincts!"

Feeling really defensive (and knowing Sokka needed to be confident in his skills), Totodile turned and said, "Seriously, chick! I know a joke when it bites my tail, and I know jokes! I'm a jokester! And what do you think he is, a camel?"

Aang perked up and said (to Totodile chagrin), "That's a great idea! Hey, Sokka's Instincts, would you mind-"

Sokka turned around, snapping, "Okay, okay! I get it!" Trying to sound calmer, he went on, "Look guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe." He pushed the branches from two rust red-leafed bushes and held them, focusing his attention on the other humans and the Pokémon. "We're safe from...the..." He finally turned around to see what was beyond the bushes and gulped, "...Fire...Nation..."

The three humans and three Pokémon had just walked into a clearing with a Fire Nation camp in it. On the opposite end of the clearing were three pavilion tents and an active fire pit with logs as benches on two sides. The camp was currently occupied...with the Fire Nation.

Most of the soldiers were seated or crouching near the fire with bowls in hand, a few Rapidash resting beside them. A couple more soldiers were seated closest to the tents, which had door flaps with the Fire Nation emblem on them. One of these soldiers had a patch over his left eye and a rather nasty-looking Houndoom, who had a burn mark on its muzzle and made it look like it was forever snarling.

"RUN!" Sokka called.

But as they dropped their packs, the soldiers leapt up from the logs, their swords out, as their Pokémon got into battle poses. The one-eyed soldier took a Bender's stance and launched a fist-full of fire at them. The fire missed them...mostly...but it did set the bushes behind them alight. Houndoom got to its paws and fired a Flamethrower at their feet, which made them jump back.

Sokka gasped, "We're cut off!" and didn't know that the left sleeve of his tunic was on fire.

"Sokka, your shirt!" Aang called.

The Water Tribe teen looked around and yelped in panic, making Bibarel ask, "Come on now, fellers! How come you humans don't know pain when it bites ya'll on the arm? It's like bein' with a Slowpoke, for Pete's sake!"

Katara opened a skin container around her waist and began to bend water into a flowing ribbon. The ribbon splashed against Sokka's tunic, putting it out, and Katara Bended the ribbon back into the water skin and closed it. Impressed at how her WaterBending had been developing, Totodile turned to use Water Gun at the fire behind them while Bibarel made a water sphere with her paws and fired a Water Pulse at the same fire.

But what happened next made Totodile let out a low groan: Houndoom and a Rapidash used Flamethrower on the bushes a second time, setting them on fire again. The three teens and Pokémon were surrounded: the burning bushes behind them the soldiers and their Pokémon all around. They put their backs together and face the warriors, ready to fight if necessary.

_Bring it on, dudes! _Totodile growled privately.

"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," Sokka was saying, seeming as if he was trying to be brave.

Katara hissed from the corner of her mouth, "What are you doing?"

"...bluffing?"

Cody looked over in front of them. "You might want to rethink on bluffing."

For the one-eyed captain smiled from his lines and sneered, "You? Promise not to hurt us?"

"I'd like to see the poor saps try," Houndoom chuckled.

Suddenly, there was a quiet zip and thud followed by a blue sphere of energy hitting the face of the Houndoom. The Captain looked surprised for a moment, then they groaned and fell face-first to the ground, his Pokémon beside him. His soldiers lowered their weapons a bit while their Pokémon stepped back and looked around.

"Nice work, Sokka!" Aang cheered. "How'd ya do that?"

Sokka looked confused, but he managed to say, "Uh...instinct?"

Totodile looked up to the trees. "I doubt it. Not even a Water Tribe warrior can use a Focus Blast attack...no offense."

"Look!"

Katara was pointing to somewhere above, and they looked up. Totodile could see a long figure standing on the massive branch of a nearby tree, a Pokémon beside him. The person dropped something and drew two blades from the middle of his back. He and the Pokémon stepped off the back of the branch, the former's weapons held high. Instead of falling straight down, the weapons seemed to catch on the branch, allowing him to sling himself in the direction of the camp, while the Pokémon did the same with its claws. The stranger kicked over two of the soldiers farthest from the group and landed with a foot on each of their backs.

This stranger was a young man about Sokka's age. Except for a red vest, he was dressed from neck to toe in dark green clothing. What little armor he has (shoulder caps and hip/upper thigh covers) are mismatched. He has a shaggy mane of brown hair, and a twig held in his teeth. Leaping beside him was a rugged-looking Combusken with a jagged scar across his face and long talons on its hands and feet.

The teen rushed forward, his shuang gou (twin hook sword) in each hand. He hooked a leg each on another pair of soldiers and sent them head over heels. With a polished body flip, he launched them through the air before they ended up in a heap on top of their prone captain. Two Rapidash ran forth to defend their masters, but Combusken leapt onto the back of one and kicked at its head, making the Fire Horse Pokémon fly at another. This forced them to crash into each other.

"Down you go," the teen said with a smirk, landing and ready for more.

"You said it, boss!" Combusken crowed. "I'm ready for more!"

The trio looked up from the little pile up at the due. They had gone from surprise to varying steps of pleasure (Katara), awe (Aang and Cody), and incredulity (Sokka, Totodile, and Bibarel). To Totodile, there was something that seemed off about this new person...but he just couldn't put his tooth on it yet.

A soldier rushed up from behind the teen, sword raised. The young man hooked his opponent's sword hand as he spun around and finished where he started, ready to face a new opponent while his opponent was sent flying. The man landed at the feet of a quartet of sword holders while Combusken kicked a Growlithe in the face and sent it flying with Focus Blast. The closest then looked up, barking, "They're in the trees!"

Just as he said this, a small boy dropped from above and landed on the man's shoulders, spinning his helmet around and blinding him. He staggered off, his small attacker still on his shoulders and laughing all the while. Totodile saw a small yellow spot shocking the nearest Rapidash and realized that a Joltik (the world's smallest Pokémon) had arrived. Before the remaining three swordsmen could react, arrows zipped from above, disarming each man without hurting him, while a barrage of Pin Missiles sent them scurrying back.

They looked up to see an archer sitting on a branch, a Jolteon next to him. The archer reached for a quiver on his back and fit two arrows to the string of his bow. Then he swung backward until he was hanging beneath the branch by his knees and Jolteon was above him. He let some arrows fly as Jolteon's spines quivered before it let out another barrage of Pin Missiles.

The foremost two soldiers had their swords knocked from their hands by the arrows and Pin Missiles while an individual and a Poliwhirl leapt down from a low branch to the ground. As the two disarmed soldiers ran off, a swordsman charged the newcomer, but this freedom fighter ducked, let the swordsman run into (and across) his back, and tossed his foe up onto the branch with a shrug. The second swordsman was more cautious, but with speed and strength, the rebel grabs him, spun him around, and threw him. The barehanded rebel turned and headed for new targets before his old one hit the ground.

His Poliwhirl was dodging an attacking Growlithe with clumsy leaps, but he grabbed it by the tail and began using Wake-Up Slap on its face. To finish it off, he threw it to the side and fired a Hydro Pump towards it. Meanwhile, a rebel with a knife and red face paint dropped to the ground and ran off to fight followed by a Sneasel.

Feeling inspired by this, the young heroes decided to get in on the action. Katara used the water from her WaterBending pouch to take on a foe, and beside her, Aang Bended the air, dragging two soldiers in a dusty circle around the pair. Cody was firing a Thunderbolt towards a Rapidash before leaping forth with a Quick Attack. And Bibarel did her share in fighting: slamming the captain's Houndoom in the face with a Focus Punch.

Totodile, after slugging an incoming Rhyhorn with Ice Punch, turned to see Sokka with his boomerang raised in both hands, shouting a war cry. A soldier charged him, but before they met, the teen entered the scene, using his swords to pole vault him into the chest of the swordsman, who went flying in the opposite direction. Combusken made sure he didn't recover his stance by using Flamethrower at his feet.

"Hey, he was mine!" Sokka protested, sagging out of his battle stance.

"Gotta be quicker next time," the teen remarked, leaping away.

Combusken chuckled, "Yeah. Slow slug!"

Totodile chortled and turned to see two soldiers backing towards the forest, but before they could escape, a huge rebel and Snorlax dropped to the ground. As they turned to face them, their faces registered shock as they came out of their drop crouch and towered easily above them. Quickly, however, they recovered and took a battle stance, but the grinning giant simply reached over his shoulder and pulled out a log thicker than a man's leg. He raised it two-handed over his head, and with a growl, he lowered the boom. To add insult to injury, the Snorlax sat down on them, moving around a bit until they were squashed.

The leader of the rogues turned from his current opponent to watch the two swordsmen backing away, their swords bent beyond use. They dropped them and fled as a third man jabbed for his throat, but he caught the spear shaft with the hooks of his swords. They struggled for a moment before the rebel spun around and sidestepped the spear. With one sword free, he hooked the man, who went flying with his spear. Its butt-end struck the back of a nearby swordsman's helmet, knocking him out. The sagging soldier revealed his foe to be Sokka, ready to receive an attack with his war club, as he looked at the downed man and groaned in frustration.

"Sorry, man," Totodile told him with a slight shrug. He saw the Combusken leap into the air and slash at a leaping Rapidash with a powerful Aerial Ace.

Another spearman attempts to strike at the rebel leader from behind. Just in time, the latter caught the spear in the space between the grip and the crescent-shaped guard of his sword and redirected it away from his head. The soldier quickly followed the spear, pushing it free and facing the young man again with a flourish. The young man also recovered his battle stance and caught the spear tip with his hooks this time and angled the spear into the ran up it, leapt and kicked off the back of the soldier's helmet, and stumbled a few stepped forward before stopping in front of Katara as if he meant to do all of it.

"Hey," the rebel said nonchalantly.

"Hi," Katara greeted him shyly.

Totodile finally paused and thought that they would be good friends to each other. However...he saw Cody look over at them with mild jealousy, his fur bristling and his hazel eyes narrowed. But he just gave a snort as he leapt away back into the camp, now abandoned by all but the newcomers and their Pokémon.

"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!" Aang was saying, his voice in one of pure awe.

Sokka merely snorted, "Army? There were only, like, twenty guys!"

"And twenty guys could've murdered you in your sleep," Combusken replied, looking at his talons. "Just be glad you saw us coming over in time, kid."

The rebel leader made it back, saying, "My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters and their Pokémon. Sneers..." The weaponless rebel, who was eating from one of the soldier's bowls, nodded with his Poliwhirl. "...Longshot..." The archer raised his paddy-hat covered head at his name while Jolteon bristled with pride. "...Smellerbee..." The rebel with the face paint and knife between his teeth and a captured Fire Nation Sword slung across his back (and with a Sneasel) brandished them when Jet named him. "...and The Duke and Pipsqueak."

The last two rebels were standing next to each other, their Pokémon beside them. The littlest rebel was on top of the giant rebel's shoulders and raised his quarterstaff slightly while the giant put his log away. Snorlax thumped its thick chest with one arm while Joltik jumped up and down precariously on top of its head.

"Pipsqueak?" Aang laughed, looking down at the small boy after he was lowered to the ground. "That's a funny name."

The little kid sniffled, and his nose was runny as he shifted his helmet to hide his tears. Totodile saw that even though Aang meant no harm in saying that, it was still impolite to make fun of someone else's name. But just as he opened his mouth to scold the Avatar, the big man beat him to it and glared down at him.

"You think my name is funny?" he snarled as the Snorlax beside him growled. Totodile realized that this was Pipsqueak, a tiny name given to a large person like him.

Aang looked a little nervous, but he plastered a smile on his face and said, "It's hilarious!"

Pipsqueak continued to glare at Aang for a moment...but then he began laughing heartily. Aang and the two rebels all shared the laugh together. Pipsqueak slapped Aang pretty hard on the back, which unintentionally knocked the Avatar down flat on his face. The Duke stopped laughing but smiled again when Aang looked up and chuckled weakly, all among friends.

_I guess we're all okay now, _Totodile sighed with relief as Snorlax and Joltik joined in with them. _I mean, what could possibly go wrong?_

**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

_**...**_

The central fire in camp was now out, and members of Jet's freedom fighters and Pokémon were near it. They were either checking weapons (Longshot and Jolteon) or investigating supply crates (Sneers and Poliwhirl). Sokka was watching as Smellerbee and Sneasel passed him and Totodile with an armful of poles. But Totodile didn't mind the skeptical look on his friend's face as he watched the others at work.

It was nice for teammates to work together and gather supplies. At first, though, he had asked if he and Cody could help, but the Pokémon waved them off, saying they could handle it. But then, he sawJet resting against a tree trunk on the edge of the camp just as Katara approached him.

"Um...thanks for saving us, Jet," the Water Tribe girl was saying to him. "We were lucky you were there."

"I should be thanking you," Jet replied with a roguish smile. "We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning; we just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in."

Katara replied with a hint of disdain, "We were relying on instincts."

Jet just shrugged. "You'll get yourself killed doing that."

"But animals and Pokémon rely on that," Cody was saying, having heard the conversation. "And what about humans?"

"It's different for humans," Jet merely replied.

Sokka was close enough to hear the conversation as he closed his eyes in frustration at his bad call and walked away. Totodile looked back; it was slightly mean of them to say that when a person said stuff like that around others. And by the way Katara was interacting with Jet...he knew Cody liked her, and seeing her with a different guy must have brought out a defensive side. So he promised himself to keep an eye on Jet from now on.

Behind him, Pipsqueak, The Duke, Snorlax, and Joltik were investigating the inside of a barrel next to one of the pavilion tents. The Duke reached in and pulled away a finger coated with green goo. He sniffed it experimentally while Joltik licked at it, jumping up and down and even cheering "Woo hoo!" in the process.

"Hey Jet, these barrels are filled with blasting jelly," The Duke told his leader.

Jet smiled in approval. "That's a great score."

Pipsqueak held up a large crate, saying, "And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!"

"Also good," Jet replied. "Let's not get those mixed up."

"OM NOM NOM!" Snorlax roared, taking a handful of jelly candy and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Don't eat it all at once, Snorlax," Combusken told him, jabbing a hand at his stomach. "Best save that for the others."

Snorlax chuckled nervously, his mouth covered with the stuff. "Sorry, boss."

As the Duke and Sneers were loading up a four-wheeled wagon, Pipsqueak said, "We'll take the stuff back to the hideout."

"You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked, perking up quickly.

Jet nodded. "You wanna see it?"

"It's really cool," Combusken added as he balanced himself on one foot. "It's so secret that not even an Ariados can find it...if we recruit it, though."

Katara literally slid up to him, her hands clasped together. So she was practically begging as she chanted, "Yes, we wanna see it!"

Jet looked down at her as his brow softened, but his self-assured smile never wavered. Totodile felt himself feeling confident that this person could be trustworthy; despite his devious looks, he seemed to be one cool guy. But after seeing the way Cody looked over at Jet and Katara, he hoped his friend could control himself.

**...**

Everyone was walking along the forest floor, the Pokémon prowling beside them. Pipsqueak and Snorlax pulled the laden wagon next to Appa as their combined strength matching the bison's. The trunks were massive enough to make even Appa small and massive enough to even hide a Wailord...if one could be hauled onto land.

"They can," Cody said, turning to me. "On the main games, that is."

Sorry, my mistake. I forgot about HeartGold and SoulSilver. But it's weird of how swimming Pokémon can follow you on there, you know? Anyways, back to the story.

Back in front, Jet has stopped and called, "We're here."

Sokka glared around. "Where? There's nothing here!"

"Hold this," Jet said, handing him a rope with a loop on the end. The other end was somewhere above their heads.

"Why, what's this do?" Sokka asked, glaring down at the rope.

But the question was answered as the loop ended up around Sokka's wrist. Without warning, he was pulled up by his arm into a nearby tree canopy. As a final insult, Sokka got momentarily stuck in the leafy branches before he disappeared, shrieking his head off.

"That's the way we roll!" Jolteon called while he used Quick Attack to leap from trunk to trunk. "Once you stick around, you'll be used to it, man!"

Jet offered a similar rope to Aang and Momo, asking, "What about you, Aang?"

Aang replied politely, "I'll get up on my own."

"And I'll join the others," Totodile added as Cody piped up, "And I wanna try what Jolteon did."

Momo launched himself from Aang's shoulder as the Avatar followed him with an AirBender leap. The other Pokémon were boarding onto a device that looked like an elevator, though Snorlax got his own thanks to his weight. And Totodile saw that Cody was already trying to leap from tree to tree, though he wasn't as fast as Jolteon. Yet he wondered how he would get to the secret hideout in time.

"Grab hold of me, Katara."

Hearing Jet say this, Totodile spun around in time to see the Freedom Fighter holding a rope and offering a hand to Katara. As the Pokémon began their way up, he saw something he prayed with all his might to God that Cody would not see.

**(Author's Note: Get ready, folks, for I am gonna growl, for I am gonna hate this part. I do NOT like the Jetara shipping.)**

She was taking his hand takes his hand, and he pulled her into a spin that ended with her against his chest. She blushed hard and noticeably while the rope slowly pulled them into the air, the embrace Katara's only means of support. She smiled nervously then looked around and up at Jet. He was now focusing on their ascent, the handsome heroic rogue.

A growl made Totodile look down; Cody was looking over at the two humans, his fur bristling and his tail twitching irritably. Just when Totodile was about to complain to the heavens, he saw Cody start to slide down, his paws rubbing the bark. He realized what was going to happen and jumped back down, and as Cody was about to fall, Totodile grabbed onto a small branch with one hand and held onto his paw with the other.

"Th-thanks, Totodile," the Pikachu gasped, looking up at him.

"No problem, buddy," Totodile replied with a small smile, pulling him onto the tree branch. "Friends for life!"

As they made it back to the others, they could see a plank-covered platform high in the canopy. Cody, Totodile, and the other Pokémon rose through a hole in the 'floor' then landed on it with a jump as Combusken let go of the still ascending rope. Wooden stairs spiraled up the trunk, and suspension bridge linked their platform to elsewhere. All workmanship is of 'tree house' quality. Aang and Momo slid across the area on a foreground rope.

The Avatar was calling as they slid by, "Nice place you got!"

"Glad you like it, kid!" Combusken called. Turning to Cody and Totodile, he asked, "So what'd you think of this?"

"Just let us see," Cody told him.

So Combusken stepped aside and nodded towards the bridge. He had stepped aside to reveal several nearby trees that had the same platforms, stairs, and bridges. Several platforms even had tent-like huts. It was just like camping except it was up in the trees. Totodile looked to the side to see Jet and Katara surveying the parts of the tree village below them.

"It's beautiful up here!" Katara sighed, looking around.

Jet nodded. "It's beautiful...and more importantly, the Fire Nation can't find us."

Smellerbee and Sneasel landed near them, the former saying, "They would love to find you. Wouldn't they, Jet?"

"It's not gonna happen, Smellerbee," Jet replied with a chuckle.

"And if they do..." Sneasel muttered in a dark tone as she brandished her claws, "...they're gonna find out why the Freedom Fighters keep fighting."

A couple of sentries were watching from above as Momo and Aang slid by again. The others were walking along a bridge, so the two friends joined them, listening on their talking.

Katara was now asking, "Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?"

"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble," Jet replied with a casual shrug. "See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back."

"Yeah," Pipsqueak added, coming up from behind. "We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em."

Behind him, Sokka was doing his level best to see over Pipsqueak, hopping to get a peek over the giant's shoulders. He was thwarted even more by Snorlax, who was walking next to his partner and blocking the way.

Jet looked around the forest canopy and went on, "One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town."

"That's so brave," Katara sighed as she gazed admirably at Jet.

"Yeah..." Cody muttered, though the Pikachu still looked a bit irked.

Sokka came up from behind, somehow having made it past Pipsqueak and Snorlax. He was less polite than Cody as he growled sarcastically, "Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a treehouse."

Katara rolled her eyes and turned back to Jet. "Don't pay any attention to my brother."

Jet gave a good-natured shrug. "No problem. He probably had a rough day."

"Hey, I often have a bad day, and you don't hear ME whining," Totodile added. Behind him, Sokka sank back behind the group, ignored as usual.

"So, you all live here?" Katara asked, no longer looking annoyed.

"That's right. Longshot and Jolteon over there?" he went on, pointing at said partners. "Their town got burned down by the Fire Nation when Jolteon was an Eevee. And we found the Duke and Joltik trying to steal our food. I don't think they ever really had a home."

"What about you?"

Just then, Jet stopped in his tracks. The group, except for Katara, Cody, and Totodile moved on. Then finally...Jet lowered his gaze and muttered, "Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old, and Combusken was a Torchic. That day changed us forever."

Cody and Totodile stopped in their tracks and looked up. Totodile looked away and felt a bit sad now; it was about his parents. They had disappeared one day, and now he wasn't sure if they were alive or not. The feeling of this was harsher than the most shock-filled Thunderbolt. Now he felt sorry for with Jet, and so did Cody, apparently...though he wasn't sure how long this feeling would last.

Katara lowered her gaze too. "Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation."

"I'm so sorry, Katara," Jet told her, his golden eyes staring at her in sympathy.

"My parents are gone too," Totodile added. "But...I was away when they disappeared...I don't know where they are now..."

Cody looked over at him in shock and then sympathy. Totodile knew that when he was a human, he had to leave his family alive. At least he knew that they were still alive before he became a Pikachu. But now...they needed something to cheer them up from all the doom and gloom.

**...**

A cloud of cawing birds was disturbed as Appa raised his head through the dense leafy branches with a grumble. In the hideout below, ropes with glowing lanterns were hanging between tree branches as tree-dwelling Pokémon climbed over them. Sentries were keeping watch on several upper platforms while the group sat at a banquet table on a huge platform.

Before them was a buffet table filled with food either from the woods or pinched by the Fire Nation. Totodile felt bad when he was eating stolen food, but at least the fish was good. While the group was eating and drinking, Jet stood up and climbed onto the table.

"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine," he announced.

His followers at the table and on upper platforms cheered, and so did their Pokémon, who all chanted "Swine! Swine!". Katara, Cody, and Aang watched with smiled, but Sokka still looked grumpy. Only Totodile didn't react, thinking of what they were going to do next.

Jet was continuing his story, "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when the Duke and Joltik dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey."

The helmet-less Duke was sitting on the platform between Longshot and Smellerbee while Joltik was on top of Sneasel's head. The Duke stood up, joined Jet on the table, and, amid the cheers, took a victory walk around a fish platter. Joltik was squeaking "They are hog monkeys!" before settling down onto his food, which was much bigger than him.

"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees." Jet prepared to take a drink from his wooden cup before saying, "Maybe they're right."

His followers booed at that.

"Or maybe...they are dead wrong!" he roared, his face bathed in an angry red from the lanterns.

His followers cheered wildly as Jet and Combusken left the table and sat on the platform between Sokka and Katara. The latter was saying, "Hey Jet, nice speech."

"Thanks," Jet said with a grin. "By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great Bending I saw out there today. And that Pikachu of yours has good skills too."

"Well, he's great," Katara replied, smiling at Aang. "He's the Avatar. And after seeing how Cody showed his moves..." She blushed when she said this. "...I could use some more training."

Jet raised an amused brow when he looked at Aang. "Avatar, huh? Very nice."

"Thanks, Jet," Aang said with his trademark smile.

"Avatar?" Combusken asked. "Wow...never thought we'd see the day when we get to see him." To Aang, he said, "Nice to meet you, Avatar. I've been a fan since I was a Torchic."

Aang smiled at the Young Fowl Pokémon. "Thanks, Combusken!"

"So I might know a way that you guys can help in our struggle," Jet said as Combusken sat down beside him.

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight," Sokka growled, standing upand walking away.

Totodile frowned after him. _I feel sorry for him when Katara makes fun of him, but that's no reason to be rude to guests!_

Jet called after him. "Sokka, you're kidding me! I needed you and Totodile on an important mission tomorrow. You're partners, right?"

"Sure we are!" Totodile added right away.

At that, Sokka stopped and turned around. "What mission?"

**...**

So they all went deeper in the forest the next day. Jet and Sokka were perched in branches on the same tree while Totodile and Combusken climbed up the same tree trunk. Jet cupped his hands together and made a high whistle that sounded like a birdcall. Several trees down, Pipsqueak and Smellerbee stepped into view from their branches. There was a reply call while Snorlax and Sneasel waved over to them.

It had been quite early in the morning when they woke up. Combusken had said that every day at dawn, several members of the patrol wake up to start their patrolling. Totodile felt slightly tired after being woken up, but he remembered that he was quite an early riser.

Just then, Sokka rammed his jawbone knife into the trunk of the tree, making Jet hiss with confusion, "What are you doing?"

"Shh...it amplifies vibrations," Sokka replied.

Jet looked impressed. "Good trick."

"Yeah," Totodile added, having heard of this the first time. "I never knew that."

Sokka nodded. "Well, you know what they say. Every day, you learn something new."

Totodile smiled. "That's what I live by too! Other than Hakuna Matata, that is."

At this, Sokka cupped his hands around the "bone" and put his ear to it. After a few minutes, he whispered, "Someone's approaching."

"How many?" Jet asked in a low voice.

"I think there's just one."

Combusken let out a small chuckle. "Then we can handle them just fine."

"Good work, Sokka," Jet praised him. "Ready your weapon."

Sokka pulled the knife out of the tree and waited as Totodile scrambled up the tree trunk to wait beside him. He aimed a few mock punches at the air to get himself in shape, for he felt like he had eaten a bit too much at the feast last night. Like Cody, he was a big eater and would not let a morsel go to waste.

But all of a sudden...he saw Sokka's blue eyes go wide when the 'someone' came into view, and when Totodile looked down, he felt his heart stop with sympathy. Walking below them was a stooped old man with a cane and wearing a simple red robe. Totodile felt that they should get away from here, knowing that they could endanger someone else's life during the mission.

"Wait!" Sokka hissed in a low voice. "False alarm...he's just an old man."

But Jet stood up and extended his hook swords anyway. With a growl, he then leapt down to the ground in front of the traveler. Sokka and Totodile watched on with horror as the other Freedom Fighters and their Pokémon joined their leader in surrounding the old man.

"What are you doing in our woods, you leech?" Jet growled with hatred.

"Yeah," Combusken added with disdain. "Fire Nation people aren't allowed in our territory."

The old man bowed low and rasped, "Please sir...I'm just a traveler."

Jet took a step, and with one swipe of his sword, he sent the man's cane flying out of his hand. The old man started backing away, but when he tried to flee the way he came, he ran face first into Pipsqueak's chest. The force of the impact knocked him to the ground while the giant bandit and his Snorlax loomed over him. The old man tried to crawl away, but Pipsqueak's foot on his backside effectively pinned him there.

Jet got close to his face and snarled, "Do you like destroying towns? Do you like destroying families? Do you?!"

"Oh...please let me go..." The old man was looking frightened now. "...have mercy..."

"Does the Fire Nation let people go?!" Jet raged at him, an ugly look of anger on his face. "Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!"

_Okay, Sokka was right, _Totodile thought. _There IS something wrong with Jet. Enough is enough! We need to put an end to this...NOW!_

Jet was preparing for a brutal kick when his foot was snagged by a certain club before it could be delivered. Sokka released him, making Combusken growl in confusion before flying at him with outstretched talons. Not wanting this to be one-on-two, Totodile leapt forth and bit his arm, his teeth having a good grasp on him, before tossing him to the side.

"Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka protested, leaping in between the old man and Jet.

"He's Fire Nation!" Jet insisted angrily. To the Freedom Fighters, he snapped, "Search him!"

As they did, Sokka tried again, "But he's not hurting anyone!"

Jet whirled on him angrily, growling, "Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!"

"And why DO you fight?" Totodile snapped at the Freedom Fighters leader. "If I didn't know any better, you're no better than the Fire Nation!"

"Hey!" Combusken shrieked, leaping forward and landing with a kick to the ground. "Don't speak to Jet like that! He's a good leader!"

Totodile snorted and folded his short arms over his chest. "Oh yeah. Right. And my uncle's the legendary Lugia! Next thing you'll be saying, I bet you'll say your dad was the giant chicken from Family Guy!"

Combusken let out an un-chickenlike growl and stepped forth, his claws glowing in the morning light. But before they could attack, Smellerbee interrupted by holding up a satchel and saying, "We've got his stuff, Jet."

Sokka looked at the scene with a worried face. "This doesn't feel right," he muttered.

"It's what has to be done," Jet told him as if it was as simple as that. He shoved past the Water Tribe teenager and went on, "Now let's get outta here."

Pipsqueak and Smellerbee followed him, Snorlax and Sneasel following them and not looking back. Sokka looked at the old man still on his hands and knees, and Totodile agreed with him on what he said about him. Jet was clearly in the wrong, and attacking an old man was not a good example of keeping out intruders. If nothing was done, then the Freedom Fighters could turn their rage onto innocent Fire Nation people living nearby.

And if nothing was done, innocent people like this old man could be attacked every day.

"Come on, Sokka!" Jet called. "And you too, Totodile!"

With one more sympathetic look at the old man, Sokka slowly turned and then ran after the others, Totodile on his heels.

**...**

At the hideout, Totodile was in no mood to play games right now. He sat at the very edge of a platform, looking down at the forest floor below. He knew he and Sokka had to tell the others the truth...but would they believe them? Cody might...but Aang probably wouldn't because of his innocence and Katara because of sometimes being stubborn.

He looked above him to see Aang and Momo playing with the ziplines again until they landed onto the same platform Totodile was on. Ever since he had gotten there, Aang had not left that alone, always zooming around the area.

"Totodile! Sokka! Look what the Duke gave me!" the Avatar said, wearing a satchel on his back (_Not the old man's, thank God_, Totodile thought).

Aang pulled a small pellet from it, and with a sly grin, he tossed it at the platform next to Momo, where it exploded with a pop. Momo puffed up like a startled cat, and then he growled like an angry Meowth and lunged for the satchel. The lemur then sat on his master's shoulder and tossed pellets at his feet, making him dance about wildly and chant, "Ow! Quit it!"

_Humans...and they call themselves so smart, _Totodile sighed, shaking his head. Next to him, Sokka was oblivious of it all, sitting with his back to the trunk and staring at the platform before him, frowning.

"Hey Sokka." Katara had walked up to them, Cody riding on her shoulder. "Is Jet back?"

"Yeah...he's back," Sokka growled, turning to face his sister. "But we're leaving."

Aang, who was listening, let out a whine. "What?"

"Right now?" Cody asked, tilting his head to one side.

Katara made a slight pouting look as she reached behind her. "But I made him this hat."

As she said this, she pulled from behind her back a cap made out of stitched leaves with a flower on top. Totodile saw that the workmanship was unimpressive, but to avoid any more arguing, he did not say it out loud.

Sokka gave a sigh and gave Katara a serious look. "Your boyfriend Jet's a thug."

"What?" The look on her face was incredulous. "No he's not."

"Um...yeah. Yeah he is," Totodile retorted. "We were there. We saw what he really was."

"He's messed up, Katara," Sokka added heatedly.

Aang piped up, "He's not messed up; he's just got a different way of life...a really fun way of life," he added with a smile.

"Wait a minute." Cody had leapt down from Katara's shoulder and looked up at Sokka. "How can you be sure that he's as messed up as you said?"

Sokka snapped, "He beat and robbed a harmless old man!"

Katara's face hardened into irritation. "I wanna hear Jet's side of the story."

"Okay, go ahead," Totodile growled, glaring up at her. "He can't deny it!"

**...**

"Sokka...you told them what happened, but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?"

Jet, the trio, and the Pokémon were in a lantern-lit hut: at least one wall was made of wood. Jet and Combusken were sitting on a hammock-like bed, and the others were standing. Sokka was standing grumpily as far away as he could get, even though Totodile wanted to make him tell some more. Aang was wearing the hat Katara made, but he now looked like a Sitrus Berry. And Cody was standing to the side, looking around in his usual way.

Katara answered the question while glaring at her older brother, "No, he conveniently left that part out."

"Fine!" Sokka snapped. "But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian."

"Harmless, eh?" Combusken sneered. "He could've been carrying a weapon!"

Jet nodded. "You're right, was an assassin, Sokka," he added, turning back.

He pulled out a knife and thrust it into a nearby block of wood, letting Totodile see it. It was a sinister-looking curved blade. There were four spikes evenly spaced along the grip, with enough space for fingers to go between them. There was a ring on the butt of the knife, which Jet pulled on and removed a small glass tube with red liquid.

"See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife," Jet explained, but Totodile saw through that clever disguise. "He was sent to eliminate me. You helped save my life, Sokka. You and Totodile there."

"I knew there was an explanation," Katara spoke up, her blue eyes narrowed.

Sokka growled, "We didn't see any knife!"

Jet said, "That's because he was concealing it.

Katara gave Sokka what Totodile knew was a disdainful look. "See, Sokka? I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife."

"There was no knife!" Sokka snarled. "I'm going back to the hut and packing my things."

So he left through the door, and Totodile followed, not wanting a part in this tomfoolery. But he was just through the doorway when he heard Jet say "Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet. I really need your help."

"What can we do?" That was Aang.

"We can help, you know," Cody added. This made Totodile think, _Traitor._

"The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest," Jet was explaining. "If you both use WaterBending to fill the reservoir, we could fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley."

Totodile felt like this could be bad news, making him want to go and rescue and humans or other Pokémon there; it was what a Rescue Team would do. But then again...Jet could be lying. So he turned on the spot and walked back to the tent, where Sokka was tying up a roll on the floor. By the way Sokka looked up at him and nodded to the bags, he seemed too angry to talk but seemed to say "Go ahead and help me." So he did.

But as Totodile finished packing his stuff up, Cody, Katara, and Aang had returned, their faces determined. Bibarel was also beside them, muttering "What'd I miss, young'uns? I've been sleepin' like a hog monkey all day!" Yet Totodile wasn't interested in what she was saying.

"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" Katara started to say.

"I'm sorry, Katara," Sokka sighed, looking at her. "Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him."

Then Katara said with all the coldness of Mount Freeze, "You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader!"

The Pokémon gasped at this before Cody spoke up, "That was a low blow."

"Yeah," Totodile growled. "Harsh, girl! Harsh!"

Sokka looked actually rather calm as he retorted, "Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet. It's just that my instinct-"

"Well, my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet," Katara interrupted with disdain. She spun around and said, "Come on. Aang. You too, Cody."

"Sorry..." Cody mewed, looking down. "But you two go without me. I think I'm gonna stay here for the night."

Aang was the one to follow Katara out, saying sincerely, "Sorry, Sokka."

They left the hut, and Totodile felt angrier than before. He knew Katara was in denial, and he would make sure she was wrong in what she said.

**...**

Totodile woke up during the night, feeling thirsty. Inside the Trio's hut, Sokka was sleeping propped up against his still-packed gear while the others slept in their bedrolls. Cody wasn't sleeping in the hut tonight; he had said he wanted to sleep in the trees that night. But as he got a canteen from his bag and gulped down some water, relishing in its sweet cool taste, he thought over what Sokka and Katara had argued about.

Now he did not care what the others thought of Jet; that guy couldn't be trusted. Him or his Combusken. Speaking of that, he found it ironic for someone to fight against the Fire Nation using a Fire type Pokémon. But as he was about to lay back down to sleep, he heard a low voice whisper in the night.

"Let's go. And quietly."

Beside him, Sokka stirred a bit and then snapped awake. He got up and pulled the door flap aside enough to see some of Jet's followers descending on the rope lines. He was just going to leave the hut when he saw Totodile watching him.

"What?" he whispered. "You wanna come along?"

"Sure," Totodile whispered back. "You're right about Jet; something ain't right with him."

So they each took a rope line down to a lower branch. On the ground below them, Jet's Freedom Fighters were quietly pushing the loaded wagon as Jet led them out of the camp. As silent as a Sharpedo through dark icy water, Totodile and Sokka stealthily followed them.

In the dark valley, the walled town sat on the far side of a river that cut through the forest; a few nocturnal Pokémon like Noctowl were out foraging for food. Upstream, and up toward the wall of the valley there was an old waterfall, and beyond that was a man-made dam. A bare cliff off to the reservoir's left provided the view of a lifetime. Whoever had made these, Totodile had been thinking, had some good craftsmanship.

Jet and his boys now emerged from the forest, Sokka and Totodile behind them. He walked over to the edge and looked down on the dam below, Combusken beside him and scouting around; the reservoir behind it was low.

He turns back to the wagon and said, "Now listen: you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive."

Sokka let out a small gasp, but Totodile covered his mouth with his hand in time. Still, he was also disturbed by what Jet was suggesting.

The Duke jumped off the wagon and asked, "But what about the people in the town? Won't they get wiped out too?"

"Yeah," Joltik squeaked from on top of his helmet. "That'll make US the bad guys!"

Jet placed a hand on the Duke's shoulder and said, "Look, Duke...and Joltik, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation." To Longshot, he said, "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal. Got it?"

"And if that happens, this could be the end for all of us!" Combusken added while Longshot gave his leader a nod.

Sokka watched incredulously from the bushes, Totodile beside him with a frown. So this was what Jet was up to: blowing up the dam to destroy an innocent village. Fire Nation or not, that was a plain village, and Jet would be no better than his enemies if he destroyed it. For a brief second, he considered telling Cody, Katara, and Aang about it...then he remembered Katara not believing her brother. Cody and Aang could listen...but not her.

Suddenly, he and Sokka heard rustling in the bushes, wondering what was going on. Just before Totodile could say anything, Pipsqueak appeared, dragging Sokka out by his topknot. Snorlax had arrived too and punched Totodile across the face as a few bloody teeth flew out of his jaws. Smellerbee's knife was instantly at Sokka's throat while Sneasel did the same to Totodile.

"Where do you think you're going, ponytail?" Smellerbee sneered with disdain.

"Yeah," Sneasel growled. "Speak up, or your throats get it!"

_**.**_**...**

_**Commercial Break**_

**...**

"Sokka...and Totodile too. I'm glad you decided to join us."

The voice rang in Totodile's eardrums as he slowly woke up, noticing that he was looking down at the ground from a big height. As he looked up, he realized that he was being dangled upside down by Snorlax holding his tail. He tried squirming free, but Snorlax landed another Mega Punch to his back, making him gasp in pain and fall limp.

Sokka was brought down to his knees while Snorlax still held Totodile up by the tail. The Water Tribe teen said, "I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town."

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation," Jet explained, a smirk on his face."

"That way, they won't invade our forest ever again," Combusken added. "Death to fire!"

"There are people living there," Sokka protested. "Mothers and fathers and children."

Jet shrugged. "We can't win without making some sacrifices."

At this, Sokka pointed an accusing finger at Jet and snapped, "You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!"

"Whom we hope get together soon!" Totodile added. Sokka gave him a weird glance before he added, "What? Don't I get to do lampshade hanging?"

"Because they don't understand the demands of war," Jet sneered. "Not like you and I do."

"I do understand." Sokka had a look of calm determination on his face now. "I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."

Totodile nodded. "And you're becoming no better than the Fire Nation! You're like...you know...a terrorist!"

Jet glared at the Big Jaw Pokémon for what he said. But instead of attacking, he shrugged and said, "I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice." Seeing Sokka try to get away, he pinned his wrist down with the hooks of his shuang gou and said, "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang...and Totodile, we won't let you warn Cody either. Take them for a walk," he told the Freedom Fighters. "A long walk."

Sokka gave a growl as he was being led away. "You can't do this!"

"Cheer up, Sokka," Jet said. "We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today."

As they were being led away, Totodile snarled over his shoulder, "Darn you two! In fact, darn you all to heck!"

"Oh, many have, Totodile," Combusken retorted lazily. "_Many have._"

**...**

The time for the secret mission had arrived the next morning as Cody and Combusken strolled side-by-side by the riverside upriver from the dam. The collected water behind it was much less than the larger cavity of the reservoir he heard so much about. The river leading to down to it was a thread compared to its "rainy season" gully. But as he thought of all this, he recalled what had happened that morning.

Sokka and Totodile did not turn up for breakfast, making Cody fear for the worst; perhaps they had left. But Jet reassured him that they hadn't left, but he didn't tell him where they were at. But right now, he focused on walking as Jet, Katara and Aang patrolled upriver along its west bank.

"Jet, I'm sorry about how Sokka's been acting," Katara began saying.

But Jet merely shrugged. "No worries. He already apologized."

Aang stopped to share a look with Katara before looking back. "Really? Sokka apologized?"

"Really?" Cody repeated, looking up. "He's never one to apologize for his mistakes."

"Yeah. I was surprised too," Jet said, turning to Katara. "I got the sense that maybe you talked to him or something."

"Yeah, I did," came the reply, making Cody frown at her.

Jet went on, "I guess something you said got through to him. Anyhow, he went out on a scouting mission with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee and their Pokémon. And Totodile went with them in case you're wondering where we went to."

Combusken added, "And it's a _secret _mission! We can't tell anyone."

Katara nodded coolly. "I'm glad he cooled off. He's so stubborn sometimes."

_Like you, _Cody wanted to insert, but he didn't say it. Over the past few days, the Water Tribe siblings had argued about who was to be the leader or not. This was another side of Katara Cody did not want to see: disdain for her brother.

The three humans and two Pokémon were now walking in the gully beside the "river". Cody saw Aang pause after noticing something strange, then he was launched into the air by a blast from the geyser he was standing on. He wondered what it was like to feel the rush of the geyser steam through his yellow fur, but he decided on not trying to after seeing the force.

"All right, we're here," Jet started explaining. "Underground water's trying to escape through these vents. I need you guys to help it along. And Cody, you can keep a lookout for enemies."

Katara looked nervous. ...I've never used Bending on water I can't see. I don't know..."

Then Cody saw something that he hoped that he hoped never to see ever again. Jet stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, saying smoothly, "You can do this."

Seeing this, Cody now felt his fur bristle and felt a growl rise in his throat. Now that he had seen this, he felt like shocking Jet into a crisp for going near Katara like that. But he didn't want to do it either, for if he did, then they would be angry at him...and he didn't want that to happen again. So while they weren't looking, he settled on glaring at them.

"What about me?" Aang piped up, not seeing what Cody saw.

"I know the Avatar can do this," Jet said, looking at Aang with a smile.

"Yeah," Combusken said with a proud snort. "He's cool."

So Aang and Katara stood on either side of one of the many smoking holes in the gully, Cody standing to the side since he couldn't Bend. While he, Jet, and Combusken looked on, they began performing Bending gestures, looking like they were encouraging an Onix to come out of there. After a few minutes, a blobby stream of water emerged from the hole as they pulled it to their height then sent it toward the river, where it continued to flow like a giant garden hose. The water quickly joined the river, making Cody stare on in awe.

_I forgot what great WaterBenders they are, _he realized.

"Yes!" Jet was praising them. "Good job! This river empties into the reservoir; a few more geysers, and it'll be full."

Aang grinned as he pointed away and said, "Look, there's another steam vent."

As he and Katara walk off in its direction, Jet replied, "Okay. You two keep it up. Combusken and I are gonna go check on things at the reservoir."

"When we're done, we'll meet you over there," Katara told him as they began walking away.

Cody saw Jet and Combusken freeze as the former stuttered over his words, "Actually...probably better if you meet us back at the hideout when you're done."

"Yeah. Don't worry," Combusken said. Cody did not hear these words: "And today, that village is going down."

"Huh?" Cody asked, turning around.

Combusken chuckled as they walked away, "I said...pillage is fluffy down!" He chuckled again as he and Jet resumed walking away while Aang and Katara were Bending the next geyser into another fountain.

"I bet that's enough," Aang finally said, pulling away. "And I'm not just saying that to be lazy."

Cody nodded, watching a half dozen fountains flow into the river. "I agree with you on that. I hate not working...but a break's good."

"That's right," Katara panted, looking a bit tired from WaterBending. "Let's catch up with Jet and Combusken at the reservoir."

Aang looked at her in confusion. "I thought we agreed to meet them back at the hideout."

Katara shrugged. "Well, we finished early. I'm sure Jet'll be happy to see us."

**...**

_I'm sure Jet'll be happy to see us punch his face in, _Totodile growled to himself.

The Freedom Fighters were walking down a path in the forest. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee (with Sneasel and Snorlax) were forcing Sokka, who has his hands tied behind his back, to walk ahead of them. Smellerbee gave the prisoner a shove, growling "Come on, move along!", therefore he stumbled but remained on his feet. As for Totodile, his jaws, hands, and feet were all tied to each other, but he could only move his tail to smack Snorlax, who carried him.

"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" Sokka was asking the Freedom Fighters.

"Hey listenm Sokka," Pipsqueak rumbled. "Jet's a great leader. We follow what he says, and things always turn out okay."

_I doubt it, _Totodile thought angrily. But as he thought this, he noticed Sokka looking at a couple of snare leaf-piles nearby. They were identical to the one that tempted Momo, right down to the pile of nuts at the bottom. Then he saw the Water Tribe teen turn to give him a small wink, and when he saw that, he understood.

Then Sokka replied to Pipsqueak, "If that's how Jet leads, then he's got a lot to learn."

Seeing Sokka sprint off in the direction of the snares, Totodile moved his jaws so far apart that the rope split so he could bite Snorlax. Snorlax growled as he dropped the Big Jaw Pokémon, but he was too heavy to reach down and grab him. Once he caught up with Sokka, they leapt over the leaf piles, watching Pipsqueak and Smellerbee and their Pokémon not slow down, so they ended up snared and hanging many feet up in the air.

As for Snorlax and Sneasel, Totodile tripped Sneasel by aiming a Water Gun at her feet, making her trip and fall to the ground. Snorlax wasn't paying attention and tripped over Sneasel, letting out a loud bellow as he fell into a rather large hole. Once Snorlax was down there, he moved over to Sneasel and kicked her down until she bounced off his stomach and beside him.

"While you two are up there, you might want to practice your knot-work," Sokka added, holding up his now-worthless bindings.

"Yeah, see ya!" Totodile called as he followed him into the woods. "And as for you Pokémon, DO forget to write!"

They heard Pipsqueak say, "Hey Smellerbee, you gonna eat your leechee nuts?" before walking further down the forest. He heard Snorlax and Sneasel growl from holes that they had dug to trap any enemies; this made him believe that they were only good at catching themselves.

But that didn't matter right now. He and Sokka had to stop Jet from destroying the town.

**...**

Cody was standing beside Katara and Aang as they arrived at the edge of the cliff. The young Pikachu scanned the area and even sniffed around for a scent, catching vibrations with his thin whiskers. But as he looked around, he noticed something weird.

At the base of the dam, four of Jet's people were unloading barrels from the wagon and arranging them. Their Pokémon were beside them, helping them unload their cargo even without the help of Snorlax to help them. This was very weird...weird that they would do something without Jet around to order them around.

"What are they doing?" Katara asked in a confused voice.

Cody narrowed his eyes at this. "Moving stuff around, I think."

"Hey, those are the red barrels Jet got from the Fire Nation," Aang said immediately. And Cody saw that he was right: barrels were being stocked up beside each other.

Katara asked, "Why would they need blasting jelly?"

This was a question not even Cody could answer. But Aang finished it, his gray eyes wide with horror. "Because Jet's gonna blow up the dam."

_That explains the raid, _Cody thought with the same feeling Aang had. They didn't come across the Freedom Fighters by accident or purposely; they were trying to raid the camp to find supplies to destroy the town.

"What?" Katara asked in disbelief. "No...that would destroy the town. Jet wouldn't do that."

"You know..." Cody growled, turning to face her. "What if Sokka said the same thing? Would you believe your brother...or a guy you barely met for a day?"

"I gotta stop him," Aang muttered, snapping his glider wings open and running for the edge.

Katara looked even less convinced as she murmured, "Jet wouldn't do that."

Cody sighed at those words and ran alongside Aang. But before Aang could reach the edge, he saw Jet cross his path from behind and snatch the glider while he himself was painfully kicked hard in the stomach to the ground. Aang was left wobbling precariously on the edge and used an AirBending move to get himself back on stable footing while Cody weakly got to his paws.

"Yes I would," Jet growled, glaring at them. Combusken landed beside them, smirking as he stretched the foot he kicked Cody with until it was ready for another round.

"Jet?" Katara had seen this, shock on her face. "Why?"

Jet turned to her. "Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother...we can't let them do that to anyone else ever again."

Katara looked horrified. "This isn't the answer!"

"And Sokka was right about you," Cody growled, standing on his hind legs. "And Totodile too. You guys can't be trusted!"

"I want you to understand me, Katara...and you too, Cody," Jet said. "I thought your brother and Totodile would understand, but..."

"Where's...where's Sokka?" Katara sobbed, tears falling from her blue eyes.

Cody couldn't stand to see her sad...or to see Totodile in danger. "And what about Totodile, Jet? What'd you do with both of them, you jerk?!"

Jet ignored the Pikachu as he reached out and touched her face as she bowed her head, making Cody snarl again... but then, before he could strike, he saw that he didn't need to. With a roar of rage, Katara had just sent Jet flying with the water from her WaterBending pouch, drawing it back into the skin when she was done. Seeing this, Combusken squawked with rage and leapt at her, his claws on his hands glinting, but Cody got in between them, slamming his face with a hard Iron Tail and knocking him back.

"I need to get to the dam."

That was Aang, reaching over for his glider. But before he could grab it, the crescent end of one of Jet's shuang gou pinned it like an axe. Jet had the two weapons hook to hook, and with a yank, he pulled the sword and Aang's glider to him. Combusken, whose face was bleeding from the wound on his face, was beside him, the crest on his head quivering.

"You're not going anywhere without your glider," Jet growled, thrusting the swords at Aang. The Avatar leapt back to avoid the extra reach and finished his retreat in a nearby tree.

Aang glared steadily at him. "I'm not gonna fight you, Jet."

Jet sneered back, "You'll have to if you want your glider back."

At that, Aang retreated back into the forest as Jet hooked the branch and pulled himself up with Combusken following him. Katara followed them on the ground, but Cody turned around at her, growling, "Get back! I don't want you getting hurt."

Katara could only nod weakly as Cody looked up to see Jet attacking; Aang defended himself with balls of air, which Jet ducked under. He looked around in time to see Combusken send a Flamethrower at him, which he countered with a Thunderbolt. Both attacks collided before shooting off in other directions at the rocks on the forest floor. Seeing this, Cody leapt up into the branches, watching Combusken follow him and fly at him with a Mega Kick. He felt pain shoot into his head as the kick connected with the side of his head, but he bit the leg that did it and flung him with all his might against another tree.

He saw Combusken get weakly to his feet before using Aerial Ace on a tough branch above him several times, making Cody confused. Then he saw the branch fall down towards him, but he leapt onto it and pushed his hind paws onto it before he flew at Combusken with a heightened Agility, barreling into his chest and letting out a Thunderbolt. The Young Fowl shrieked with anger before striking his head with a Sky Uppercut, followed by kicking him to the ground with Mega Kick. Cody fell to the ground, bleeding from his wounds yet steadying himself as he got up weakly to his paws.

_This guy's fast, _he thought. _How can I slow down his speed. My Thunderbolt didn't paralyze him in his tracks!_

"Time for the finishing move!" Combusken shrieked. "The Focus Punch Slobberknocker!"

Cody glared weakly up at him, blood dripping from his wounds. "That's a lame move. Jim Ross gets to say it right!"

Combusken growled, "Oh yeah? Well, stand still. I have to finish my move."

Cody hissed and limped over to Aang, who was too slow to get up. Before Jet and Combusken could launch their next attack, they were hit by a large water strike, and Cody looked to the side. Katara was there, using water from the river to throw Jet against the trunk of the tree. Over and over, she attacked with increasing anger, and the enemies were unable to cut the water as its force plastered him against the trunk. She Bended the water to ice, and the water-logged rebel was left frozen from toe to neck.

Yet Cody saw Combusken sneer as he melted the ice off himself with Flamethrower...but this was a big mistake to him. The Pikachu seized the chance and sent a Thunderbolt at him, the water on his feathers being fried by the attack. Once Combusken was dizzy from the attack, Cody pounced at him with a Quick Attack and knocked him to the ground before looking around to the humans.

"Why, Jet?" Katara asked, her voice becoming filled with anger. "I can't believe I trusted you. You lied to me! You're sick, and I trusted you!"

"And to think we felt sorry for you too!" Cody added, joining her. "Can't YOU remember what the Fire Nation did to your family?!"

Just then, a bird's call sounded from the valley beyond. Jet gave an answer call, making all three of them look at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked him with an anxious stare.

"You're too late," Jet said with a smirk.

All three were shocked at this; Jet and Combusken had wasted their time. Aang snapped open his glider and ran for the nearby cliff/waterfall. His glider's wing was so shredded however, that he had no lift and slammed back into the ground near the edge. Katara ran over to help him while Cody limped over to him, his blood staining the ground.

"Sokka's still out there," Aang told them. "And so is Totodile. They're our only chance."

"Come on, Sokka," Katara prayed, looking out towards the dam. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Please..."

Cody prayed with her, "You too, Totodile. You gotta make it."

And they saw it...a fire arrow arcing down to the base of the dam.

"No..." Katara rasped in shock.

"Come on...go wrong..." Cody whispered with her.

The center of the dam exploded in a cloud of smoke and fire. Cody, Katara, and Aang watched a massive wall of water go over the "dry" falls and down to the town, seeing inside the town. The streets were strangely empty except for the occasional barrel and a market table with cabbages. The water rushed through the open gate as a cresting wave dwarfed it underneath its towering form. The wall and gate were swallowed whole as the wave struck the town.

The flotsam carried away in the flood included a smiling doll in a purple dress. Cody's ears flattened against his head in shock and sadness.

"They didn't make it in time," Aang groaned, lowering his gaze.

"All those people..." Katara's voice was filled with sadness and regret. Turning to Jet, she snarled, "Jet, you monster!"

"Don't look at us like that!" Combusken snapped, still on the ground. "He's a great leader!"

Cody hissed, his pelt bristling, "But a terrible person! He's no better than the Fire Nation!"

Jet didn't look sorry for what he did. Instead, he said with a sinister smirk,"This was a victory; remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe.

"It _will_ be safe...without you."

In shock, they all looked up to see Sokka, Appa, Momo, and Totodile rise from below the level of the cliff. Sokka had Appa's reins, and Cody was happy to see that they had all survived. Though Bibarel wasn't anywhere to be seen, he guessed she was alright too.

"Sokka! Totodile!" Katara's and Cody's voices were filled with joy.

"The two and only," Totodile said with a smirk, embracing Cody after the Pikachu rushed forth to give him a hug.

Sokka nodded before adding to Jet, "I warned the villagers of your plan just in time."

"What?!" Cody was pleased to see that Jet's amber eyes were wide with shock and anger.

"At first, they didn't believe me," Sokka began. "The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy. But one man vouched for me: the old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time. And as for Bibarel, she knew what was going on and decided to stay behind to help the surviving villagers. They wouldn't have survived if it was for her."

Cody looked down at the townsfolk on high ground above the river, on the bank opposite the town. A little girl was running down to the water's edge as the doll floats by, picking it up and cuddling it close to her. Bibarel broke out from the crowd and wrapped a foreleg over the girl's shoulders, giving her a sympathetic smile.

Hearing this, Jet snarled, "Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!"

"Yeah!" Combusken added with a sneer. "Your sister was right: you're no leader!"

"Who would be free, then?" Sokka retorted calmly. "Everyone would be dead."

"You_ traitor_!" Jet spat.

Sokka glared at him coldly. "No, Jet. You and Combusken became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

Jet glared at him before turning to a certain person. "Katara...please...help me," he pleaded, his voice almost earnest...but Cody guessed it was fake.

Katara just turned away from him after one last glare. "Goodbye, Jet," he muttered with the coldness of the Frosty Grotto.

As soon as everyone was on board, Sokka gave Appa's reigns a flick and said, "Yip yip."

And Appa took off while they left Jet behind on the ground, still frozen to the tree. Cody heard Combusken scream, "Get back here, lil' boogers! Let me at ya!"

**...**

The sky they flew in was empty, save a few wispy clouds. Totodile felt better after what he and Sokka had done, but he wondered what Katara, Aang, and Cody thought of it.

Aang was the first to say this: "We thought you and Totodile were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?"

"Lemme guess: your instincts told you," Katara said. But this time, her tone was a teasing and playful tone.

Totodile shrugged. "Don't know. And I think you owe someone an apology."

Katara nodded. "I know. And Sokka..." She turned to her brother. "I'm sorry for how I've acted towards you the past few days. You're going to be a great leader."

Sokka gave his little sister a hug. "No problem. And hey, sometimes my instincts are right."

"Um...Sokka?" Aang piped up. "You know we're going the wrong way, right?"

"Yeah," Cody said. "We gotta head to the rising sun. Remember?"

Sokka looked surprised, but he quickly recovered and pulled on Appa's reins. "And sometimes they're wrong."

And with a grin, he steered Appa around until they headed towards the rising sun.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Finally! This chapter is done! I never knew when this chapter would be done. But before we go on, I'd like to say a little something.**

**About Cody's relationship with Katara right now, he's not in love with her yet. But I'll let you know when he starts to. But currently, he's rather defensive of her but not too defensive. Plus, the next chapter will be like the comic called Don't Blow It...and there'll be a part on there that's from the movie Benji The Hunted, concerning him and a predator.**

**So remember to read and review! Anyone who does so will get virtual figurines of the Pokémon that showed up in this chapter. I don't allow any flames, but what I DO welcome instead are advice, questions and criticism as long as it's not harsh.**

**Summary: Aang comes down with a cold, so the others have to find a cure for him. But what would happen if the Fire Nation was in the same forest as him? Meanwhile, Cody comes across a new enemy who's a relentless predator.**

**See ya next time! And Happy early Memorial Day!**


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